Drought in Lower Chama River Valley, New Mexico

Exceptional drought conditions from August continued through September 2018.

Widespread severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of August 2018 continued through September 2018 despite more rounds of showers and thunderstorms with locally heavy rainfall. Severe drought conditions covered nearly 60 percent of the state, of which around 32 percent was deemed extreme drought or worse. Exceptional drought continued around 15 percent of New Mexico. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms occurred throughout the month, especially around the higher terrain of central New Mexico, the Rio Grande Valley, and eastern New Mexico. Widespread rainfall amounts of one to three inches occurred across central and eastern New Mexico with less than one inch across the west. The Four Corners region remained mostly dry during September 2018 with no improvement to exceptional drought conditions.