Drought — Upper Gila River Valley, New Mexico

2020-08-04 to 2020-08-31 · Upper Gila River Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

On August 4th, the western part of the zone was placed in Severe(D2) drought and then Extreme(D3) by the end of the month. The remainder of the zone was placed in Severe(D2) drought on August 25th. The Cooperative Observer in Buckhorn reported 1.50 inches of rain which was 1.38 inches below normal.

Wider weather episode

Very little rain through the first two-thirds of the monsoon season lead to drought conditions becoming worse across most of southern New Mexico. Some areas over southwest New Mexico were placed into Extreme(D3) drought by the end of the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 915570. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.