Drought — Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona

2021-02-01 to 2021-02-28 · Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona

Event narrative

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during February, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled 0.5 to 2.0 inches near the Mogollon Rim or 50 to 100 percent of normal, but less than a half inch elsewhere, or zero to 50 percent of normal. Soil moisture readings remained very low, below the 5th percentile ranking across eastern Pinal and western Graham counties and below the 10th percentile ranking elsewhere. Levels at San Carlos Reservoir remained around 2 percent of storage capacity. More than a dozen small wild land fires occurred during the month, but all were quickly suppressed.

Wider weather episode

The exceptional (D4) and extreme (D3) drought categories continued across a large part of southeast Arizona during February, with the exception of western Pima County. Precipitation totals for the month totaled 0.5 to 2.0 inches near the Mogollon Rim or 50 to 100 percent of normal, but less than a half inch elsewhere, or zero to 50 percent of normal. Soil moisture readings remained very low, below the 5th percentile ranking across eastern Pinal and western Graham counties and below the 10th percentile ranking elsewhere. Levels at San Carlos Reservoir remained around 2 percent of storage capacity. More than a dozen small wild land fires occurred during the month, but all were quickly suppressed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 943076. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.