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: SEPTEMBER 2021
The monsoon season ended with record-level amounts of precipitation in several locations, including Payson and Show Low, which reported their wettest monsoon on record. Several storm systems moved through the region in both early and late September, with portions of the Mogollon Rim, White Mountains, and Galiuro Mountains receiving above-average precipitation. A strong cold system brought snow to the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks and the White Mountains on September 30.
By the end of September, most of the state was in Moderate (D1; 42%) to Severe (D2; 25%) short-term drought conditions. Extreme (D3) short-term drought remained in western Mohave County, northeastern Coconino County, northern Navajo County, and north Apache County. There was no Exceptional (D4) short-term drought in the state.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee on October 15, 2021. Arizona's short-term drought status map is updated during the first week of each month.
Quarterly Drought Status Update: JULY-SEPTEMBER 2021
Long-term drought was slightly mitigated following an average to above-average monsoon season for many portions of the state. Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties received over 200% of average July-September precipitation. However, areas along the Colorado River, northwestern La Paz and southwestern Mohave counties experienced below-average precipitation during this period, as did central Navajo County and portions of Apache County.
Exceptional (D4) long-term drought remained in central Mohave County, eastern Coconino County, western and central Navajo County, and eastern Apache County. Portions of Maricopa, Pinal, Graham, and Greenlee counties saw improvement to Severe (D2) long-term drought. Additionally, areas along the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains, and the majority of Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties largely improved to Severe (D2) and even Moderate (D1) long-term drought.
La Niña conditions have developed in the Pacific Ocean and are expected to continue through winter. La Niña in the Southwest results in greater odds that the winter ends up drier than average.
This report was prepared by the Arizona Drought Monitoring Technical Committee, October 15, 2021. Arizona's long-term drought status map is updated quarterly and the next update in early January, it will reflect the conditions of October, November, and December. 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.