Drought in Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys, Arizona

The extreme (D3) drought category continued across far southern and eastern sections of southeast Arizona during February. The area near the New Mexico line encompassed southern Greenlee, southeast Graham and eastern Cochise counties, including the Chiricahua Mountains.

While rain occurred on numerous occasions in February, with above normal rain for most of southeast Arizona, lesser rainfall occurred in the area of extreme drought near the New Mexico border. February monthly totals in the areas of extreme drought ranged from 0.5 to 2.0, with the highest amounts in the Chiricahua mountains. These amounts were generally 25 to 100 percent of normal. Soil moisture readings were in the 30th to 70th percentile ranking in most areas through February.