Drought in Upper Tularosa Valley, New Mexico

Exceptional drought conditions from May 2021 improved in June with extreme drought conditions across the area.

Drought conditions across northern and central New Mexico continued to improve during the month of June 2021. An early start to the monsoon season led to many days characterized by widespread thunderstorms, especially across the eastern half of the area. Extreme to exceptional drought improved to about 59 percent with about 30 percent deemed exceptional drought. The most noted drought improvement was across the eastern plains of New Mexico which saw numerous days of beneficial thunderstorm activity, but unfortunately, some areas received excessive amounts of rainfall that resulted in flooding. This area generally saw precipitation totals ranging from 2 to 5 inches with locally higher amounts. The Roswell airport measured a total of 5.08 inches for the month of June which is their third wettest June on record and well above the average of 1.42 inches. While the east saw big improvements in drought conditions, extreme to exceptional drought conditions persisted for areas west of the Rio Grande Valley where rainfall totals were generally less than two inches. The Four Corners area continued to receive the least amount of precipitation with totals less than half an inch.