Drought — Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

2025-07-01 to 2025-07-31 · Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

Event narrative

Extreme Drought (D3) continued in the Upper Santa Cruz and Altar Valleys in the month of July. For the month of July, Pima county ranked the 19th driest and Santa Cruz county ranked the 13th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to range between the 30th through 70th percentile for the month of July.

Wider weather episode

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in the western, southern, 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 14th driest for the month of July. Soil moisture readings increased to between the 20th percentile to 70th percentile ranking for the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1274685. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.