Drought in Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

The extreme (D3) drought category was introduced to southeastern sections of southeast Arizona during the middle of February. The drought area expanded to include portions of Cochise County, including the Chiricahua Mountains. For the month of February, Cochise county ranked the 14th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings are between the 1st and 5th percentile for the month of February.

The extreme (D3) drought category was introduced to northeastern sections of southeast Arizona during beginning of February and by the end of the month included western sections and eastern sections of Southeastern Arizona. The total area near the New Mexico line encompassed southern Greenlee, southeast Graham and eastern Cochise counties, including the Chiricahua Mountains; the Huachuca Mountains westward across Santa Cruz County; and Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Pima County. Across Southeast Arizona, the overall precipitation ranking was in the bottom tenth of the driest months on record. Soil moisture readings fell to below the 1st percentile ranking by the end of February in most areas.