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...Moderate Drought Across ~ 4% of New Mexico... ...About Half the State Abnormally Dry... |
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The current and past U.S. Drought Monitor map depictions of drought can be found at: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home.aspx
2016 Calendar Year Precipitation
October 2016. The start of October was pretty quiet through the the first week of the month. The 8th finally produced widespread showers and some thunderstorms over northern and central NM. Small hail was common as a trough of low pressure crossed the state. Hail up to the size of nickels was reported at the Route 66 Casino, while up to an inch and a half of rain fell across southern Albuquerque. More mostly dry and mild weather returned from the 10th through 16th, while strong winds buffeted the state on the 17th. A back door cold front on the 19th delivered some cooler air to mainly the east on the 19th. But dry and milder weather followed from the 20th into the 24th. Showers and a few storms impacted the northwest third of the state from late on the 24th into the 25th. The remainder of the month will be dry and warm with well above normal high temperatures.
September 2016. The month produced above normal rainfall in across the southeast half of the state, while near to below normal precipitation fell over the northwest half. This resulted in the statewide average near normal, 98 percent of normal to be exact.
January - September 2016. The first 9 months of 2016 has averaged 88 percent of normal. While there have been pockets of above normal precipitation, most areas have been below normal.
October 2015 - September 2016. The 2016 Water Year is complete. The start of the Water Year was off to an excellent start until much drier conditions developed in early January. Unfortunately, February was even worse and March was downright abbysmal. Statewide precipitation for the October 2015 to March 2016 period averaged 126 percent of normal. It's been a roller coast ride though. The first three months of the water year, October through December, averaged 188 percent of normal (7th wettest on record) while January through March only averaged 44 percent of normal (11th driest on record)! April finally reversed the drying trend and ended up with 129 percent of normal, while May was 85 percent of normal and June 97 percent of normal. It was a dry July with only 53 percent of normal rainfall, but wet in August with 135 percent of normal precipitation. Meanwhile September was very close to normal. For the calendar year so far, precipitation was at 88 percent of normal. For the now completed water year (October 2015 - September 2016), statewide precipitation was above normal, at 107 percent of normal.
. For Previous Months/Years: For previous months of 2016 as well as a recap of the 2015 year, click here. |
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The official NOAA Climate Prediction Center outlook for New Mexico precipitation during November 2016 is strongly favoring below normal precipitation. The outlook from November 2016 through January 2017 also favors below normal precipitation. especially across the southern half of New Mexico. A La Nina Watch has been re-issued.
The seasonal outlook below indicates the small area of drought near the Arizona border will likely remain through the remainder of the year, and drought development is likely across the northeast quarter of New Mexico.
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Other Hydrologic Information
Reservoir storage is below capacity at all lakes across the state. Average statewide reservoir storage was 24 percent of capacity as of October 1, 2016. You can use the link below to see the current percent of storage capacity at all the major New Mexico dams (click on "Submit Query"): https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/resv-graph.pl?state=NM All public lands, National Parks and Monuments, BLM lands, State Parks and tribal lands are open across New Mexico. There are some stage one fire restrictions, though. Click on the link below, then scroll down to New Mexico. https://publiclands.org/explore/index.php?plicstate=NM Below is a map of real-time streamflow compared to historical streamflow for the current day of the year. Click on the image to take you to the USGS site.
New Mexico Water Watch from the USGS (click map to enlarge image)
Special Hydrologic/Climate Features 1. CPC (Climate Prediction Center) forecasters (top graphic) and computer models (lower graphic) show conditions are expected to trend toward a weak La Nina from this winter through next spring. The La Nina watch has been re-issued!
You can get more detailed information on the ENSO forecast from the following links:
2. Below is an animation of the weekly U.S. Drought monitor for the past 6 weeks across the United States. In New Mexico, abnormally dry conditions and moderate drought have decreased
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Drought Indices External Links and Sites New Mexico State Engineer Drought Task Force (updated) Additional Information New Mexico Precipitation Summaries This product will be updated in early November, or as necessary in response to significant changes in weather, water supply or drought conditions. Acknowledgements The U.S. Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving the NOAA National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center, the USDA, State and Regional Climate Centers and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this statement has been gathered from the NWS and FAA observation sites, state cooperative extension services, the U.S. Geological Survey and other government agencies. If you have any questions or comments about this drought information statement, please contact: National Weather Service or by e-mail to: |
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