Drought in Southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

At the beginning of May, the western areas of the Sacramento Mountains were under Extreme(D3) drought with the eastern slopes in Exceptional(D4) drought. By the end of the month, the entire area was in Exceptional(D4) drought. No precipitation fell in the month of May and the region had received little or no precipitation since early February. The Mayhill Fire occurred from May 9-May 28 and scorched nearly 32,000 acres of land. The Lincoln National Forest was closed May 12th to all visitors and was not opened until middle July.

Very little if any rain fell across Far Southern New Mexico since the beginning of the year which led to extreme to exceptional drought conditions across the area.