Drought — Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

2025-05-01 to 2025-05-31 · Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

Event narrative

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in Santa Cruz County during May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Santa Cruz county ranked the 1st driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued below the 1st percentile for the month of April.

Wider weather episode

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in northeastern sections, western sections and eastern sections of Southeastern Arizona. The total area from much of Pima County into Graham and Greenlee counties and portions of Santa Cruz and Cochise counties. The overall precipitation for Arizona ranking was 38th for the month of May, but was dryer in Southeast Arizona. Soil moisture readings was between below the 1st percentile to 5th percentile ranking for the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1261947. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.