Drought in Eastern Uinta Basin, Utah

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions as covering roughly 1% of the zone, with 70% of the zone under severe (D2) Drought conditions, and the remaining 29% under Moderate (D1) Drought conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, Extreme (D3) Drought was completely removed, with 95% of the zone now under Severe (D2) Drought conditions, with the remaining 5% under Moderate (D1) Drought conditions. With the 10/21 update, Severe (D2) Drought conditions were reduced to 15% coverage, with Moderate (D1) Drought conditions now covering 85% of the zone. No significant changes were noted 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.