Drought — Central Highlands, New Mexico

2023-11-01 to 2023-11-30 · Central Highlands, New Mexico

Event narrative

A dry and warm November resulted in the introduction of extreme drought in the northern tier of the zone and persistence of severe drought elsewhere in the zone.

Wider weather episode

Overall drought conditions did not change much across northern and central NM during the month of November. Near to above normal precipitation was observed through the west-central and central swath of NM and this allowed for a marginal one categorical improvement in drought conditions for some of this area. Meanwhile, below normal to zero precipitation was observed over the northern mountains along the CO border and northeastern plains. This resulted in a marginal one categorical degradation in drought conditions for a portion of this area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1143678. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.