Drought — Chuska Mountains, New Mexico

2019-09-01 to 2019-09-30 · Chuska Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

Severe drought conditions developed during September 2019. Record low precipitation amounts during July and August set the stage for deteriorating drought conditions.

Wider weather episode

Moderate to severe drought conditions across portions of western New Mexico at the end of August 2019 continued in September. Moderate to severe drought conditions expanded to 33 percent of the state of which 9 percent was deemed as severe drought in the Four Corners area. Precipitation amounts across western NM during September ranged from one to two inches except in the Four Corners region which observed about half an inch or less of rain. Drought conditions continued to worsen due to these below average precipitation amounts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 848792. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.