Drought — Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys, Arizona

2023-12-01 to 2023-12-31 · Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys, Arizona

Event narrative

The extreme (D3) drought category continued across far southern and eastern sections of southeast Arizona during December. The area near the New Mexico line encompassed southern Greenlee, southeast Graham and eastern Cochise counties, including the Chiricahua Mountains; while areas near the International Border stretched from the Huachuca Mountains westward across Santa Cruz County to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Pima County. Rain did occur on several occasions in December, though the bulk of it occurred around December 22. December monthly totals ranged from 0.5 to 2.5, with the highest amounts from Tucson westward. In the areas of extreme drought, rain amounts were generally 25 to 75 percent of normal. Soil moisture readings was in the 10th to 20th percentile ranking in most areas through December.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1149478. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.