Drought in Lower Chama River Valley, New Mexico

August was quite varied in terms of precipitation, typical of the late monsoon period. Overall, the west was near to above normal, while the east was near to below normal. The combined areal coverage of severe, extreme and exceptional drought statewide decreased only slightly to 92 percent as compared to 96 percent at the end of July. The most notable improvement was across parts of northeast New Mexico where the coverage of exceptional drought decreased by nearly one-half. An unseasonably strong jet stream combined with sufficient moisture to produce several areas of strong to severe thunderstorms over central and western New Mexico early in the month. After a downward trend in thunderstorm activity during the middle part of the month, deep monsoon moisture surged back northward into New Mexico from the 19th through 22nd, then again on the 25th. The 26th through the 28th produced only light to moderate rainfall with no reports of minor or major flooding. The end of the month turned a bit wetter as a disturbance moved up western New Mexico.