Drought Status
Drought Status
Drought Status
The Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee confers weekly to advise the U.S. Drought Monitor authors on the current drought conditions in Arizona, and makes recommendations about the position of the drought boundaries for Arizona. The U.S. Drought Monitor is the official record of drought for Federal drought relief claims. Information used by the MTC in advising the Drought Monitor authors includes numerous drought indices, precipitation and stream flow data, and impacts data. Every Thursday, the Drought Status web page automatically updates with the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map of Arizona.
Monthly Drought Status Summary: MARCH 2021
While northern Arizona and the Mogollon Rim received much needed precipitation during March, it was not enough to improve drought conditions. Other areas of the state did not benefit from this precipitation. March was dry enough throughout west central Arizona to increase drought conditions from Severe (D2) to Extreme Drought (D3) in western Yavapai County, and from Extreme (D3) to Exceptional Drought (D4) in southern Mohave and northern La Paz counties.
The drought degradation increased the area of the state in Exceptional Drought from 53.50% to 54.80%, and the area in Extreme Drought from 31.17% to 31.76%. The only area that is not technically in drought is a sliver of southern Yuma County that is in Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions.
Drought improvement in the short-term is unlikely as much of the state receives only limited precipitation towards the end of spring. However, there are signals among climate models that the summer monsoon could be wetter than normal.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee on April 14, 2021. Arizona's short-term drought status map is updated during the first week of each month.
Quarterly Drought Status Update: JANUARY - MARCH 2021
Dry conditions during the January through March period led to the expansion of Exceptional Drought (D4) through northern Navajo and eastern Apache and Coconino counties, as well as through east central Arizona. Additionally, Extreme Drought (D3) expanded across northern and central Arizona and throughout Pinal and Pima counties.
The few pockets of no drought or Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions were replaced by Moderate (D1) or Severe Drought (D2).
While snowpack accumulated throughout a few locations, it was short-lived, and any potential run-off from the early melt-out was reduced by the already dry soils. Streamflows and inflows into reservoirs are low as a result of the dry conditions.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee, April 14, 2021. Arizona's long-term drought status map is updated quarterly and the next update in early July, it will reflect the conditions of April, May and June. The long-term drought status for each watershed is determined by comparing the precipitation and streamflow percentiles for the past 24, 36 and 48 months to a 40-year historical record.