Drought — Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

2025-10-01 to 2025-10-31 · Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys, Arizona

Event narrative

For the month of October, Pima county ranked the 13th driest for the period of record and Santa Cruz county ranked the 11th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to range between the 30th through 70th percentile for the month of October.

Wider weather episode

The extreme (D3) drought category continued in the western, southern, eastern, and 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 19th driest for the month of October. Soil moisture readings increased to range between the 20th percentile to 70th percentile ranking for the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1296507. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.