Drought in Lower Chama River Valley, New Mexico

Drought severity continued to increase across portions of northern and western New Mexico while decreasing ever so slightly in the east.

Above to well-above normal precipitation was observed over parts of central and much of eastern New Mexico due in large part to several severe weather outbreaks. Much of the central portion of the state received between 50 and 100 percent of normal precipitation, while areas across the east were generally above above normal including a few areas that experienced up to 200 percent of normal precipitation. The most significant rainfall was noted in Roosevelt County along with portions of Chaves and De Baca counties where up to three times the normal monthly precipitation fell. Meanwhile, the northwest and much of the far west experienced very little thunderstorm activity-- typical of June.

June 2013 had very little change in the overall areal coverage of severe or worse drought conditions. The worst drought category, Exceptional Drought (D4), continued to account for nearly half of the state at 43 percent, encompassing most of central New Mexico as well as the eastern half of the state. The second worst drought category, Extreme Drought (D3), increased to 92 percent of the state from 84 percent observed at the end of May. This was mainly due to the lack of significant precipitation across the northwest plateau and highland areas in western and northwestern New Mexico. Severe drought coverage remained largely unchanged.