Drought — Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona

2011-06-01 to 2011-06-30 · Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona

Event narrative

Extremely dry conditions continued in June with no rainfall to begin the month. The first Drought Monitor issued during June expanded D3 conditions to include all of Graham, Greenlee, and Cochise Counties. It also introduced the first D4 exceptional drought condition into extreme eastern Cochise County and extreme southern Greenlee County. The D4 drought areas had received no significant rainfall since October, 2010. The last measurable rainfall at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport was on February 27, 2011. The airport finally received two hundredths of an inch on June 29 bringing an end to 122 consecutive days without measurable rainfall. The Tucson Airport also went 81 days with no measurable rainfall, making it the fourth longest dry spell on record.

The large Wallow Fire and Horseshoe 2 Fire prompted the U.S. Forest Service to close Coronado National Forest on June 10. However, a new fire, the Monument Fire, started on June 12 in the Huachuca Mountains that threatened the city of Sierra Vista. By the end of the month, these three massive fires had charred more than three-quarter of a million acres.

The Arizona Drought Watch continued to report serious watershed conditions all across southern Arizona in June. Unusually low water levels in reservoirs, lakes, and ponds with unusually low flows in streams rivers, and springs. This resulted in unusually low forage and vegetation range productivity, along with poor forage nutrition and increased toxicity of forage. Due to drought-related wildfires, hundreds of thousands of acres of range land forest was lost. Agriculture impacts included limited cattle grazing which in turn caused a leaner herd that needed to be sent to market prematurely because of a lack of food and water sources. Tourism was also impacted from the closure of national and state parks due to wildfire concerns. Native reptile and amphibian species were also harmed as a result of dried up ponds and streams.

Wider weather episode

Long term drought conditions continued during the month of June, expanding in coverage and intensity as southern Arizona received little to no rain.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 328431. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.