Drought in Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide, Colorado

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions covering roughly 15% of Colorado Zone 017 - Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide. Severe (D2) Drought conditions covered roughly 75% of the zone, and Moderate (D1) Drought conditions covered the remaining 10% of the zone. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, significant improvements were noted. Extreme (D3) Drought conditions were completely removed, and Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions were introduced. Severe (D2) Drought now covered 15% of the zone, with 70% of the zone under Moderate (D1) Drought conditions, and 10% under Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions. The remaining 5% of the zone was now drought free. With the 10/21 update, Moderate (D1) Drought was reduced to 30% coverage, and Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions were increased to 65% coverage. The percentage coverage of Severe (D2) and Drought Free conditions did not change. There were no substantial changes between this point and the end of the month.

A dry end to September and a dry start to October kept drought conditions consistent across much of eastern Utah and western Colorado at the start of the month. However, the arrival of deep tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storms Priscilla and Raymond helped to substantially improve drought conditions, especially across southwest Colorado. In this region, drought was completely eradicated. Only portions of northeast Utah and northwest Colorado, where the deep tropical moisture did not reach, saw drought conditions persist more or less unchanged.