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: FEBRUARY 2023
February had a slow start to precipitation but ended near to above average in most of Arizona (1991-2020 February average is 1.2 inches), especially in higher elevations. Temperatures were cooler than normal across much of the state, supporting the above-median snow water equivalent, which is the depth of water that would cover the ground if the snow cover was in a liquid state, in the Verde (306% of median), Little Colorado (214% of median), and Salt (183% of median) watersheds.
Short-term drought was removed from 87% of the state (68% without drought and 19% in Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions). Moderate (D1) drought remained along western Yuma County, southwestern La Paz County, western and northern Mohave County, northern Coconino County, and southeastern Cochise County (covering 12% of the state). Severe (D2) drought continued in small areas of Mohave and Coconino counties (covering 1% of the state).
While odds are slightly tilted (~40%) towards wetter conditions in March, drier than normal weather may be more likely (~40%) through the later parts of spring into the beginning of summer across the region.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee on March 7, 2023. Arizona's short-term drought status map is updated during the first week of each month.
Quarterly Drought Status Update: OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2022
Extreme (D3) long-term drought remained entrenched in western counties, most of Coconino County, and portions of northern Maricopa and central Navajo counties. Areas of Severe (D2) long-term drought extended around the periphery of these areas and southern Apache County. Small portions of Exceptional (D4) long-term drought continued in La Paz, Mohave, and Coconino counties. Much of central Yavapai, central Apache, southern Navajo, eastern Pinal, central and eastern Pima, and most of Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, and Santa Cruz counties were Abnormally Dry (D0) or without long-term drought. Moderate (D1) long-term drought continued in northern Apache and Navajo counties, portions of Maricopa, and western Pinal and Pima counties.
La Niña conditions are in the initial stages of deteriorating with better than a 70% chance of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral by the spring. Despite the La Niña, odds are tilted towards a continuation of wetter weather in January, although the longer-term outlook through the spring suggests drier than normal weather is somewhat more likely.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee, January 12, 2023. Arizona's long-term drought status map is updated quarterly and the next update in early April, it will reflect the conditions of January, February, and March. The long-term drought status for each watershed is determined by comparing the precipitation and streamflow percentiles for the past 24, 36, 48 and 60 months to a 40-year historical record.