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Drought in Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

Drought August 1, 2025 – August 31, 2025 · Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

What the National Weather Service wrote

For the month of August, Pima county ranked the 21st driest and Santa Cruz county ranked the 5th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings decreased to range between the 5th through 10th percentile for the month of August.

The wider storm

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in the western, southern, and eastern sections of Southeastern Arizona and expanded in the northern sections of Southeastern Arizona. The total area from western Pima County into Graham and Greenlee counties and portions of Santa Cruz, Pinal, and Cochise counties. The overall precipitation for Arizona ranking was 16th driest for the month of August. Soil moisture readings decreased to between the 1st percentile to 10th percentile ranking for the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1288481. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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