Drought in Far Northwest Highlands, New Mexico

Extreme drought persisted over the eastern third of the zone.

July saw near to well above normal precipitation across much of central and eastern NM with below normal precipitation along and west of the Continental Divide. In fact, near zero precipitation was observed in the Four Corners and Navajo Nation area of the state. Overall, the mean temperature was within a few degrees of normal across the entire state with slightly cooler mean temperatures across eastern NM and slightly warmer mean temperatures over western NM. This resulted in continued improvements to drought conditions over the eastern half of the state with some improvement even observed over the south-central portion of the state. Drought conditions persisted along and west of the Continental Divide.