Drought in Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

The extreme (D3) drought category was continued in the Chiricahua Mountains in April. The drought area remained the same. For the month of April, Cochise county ranked the 48th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued below the 1st percentile for the month of April.

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in northeastern sections, 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 near normal for the month of April. Soil moisture readings fell to below the 1st percentile ranking some areas.