Drought Information Statement for West Texas & Southeast New Mexico Valid 04/11/2024 Issued By: WFO Midland/Odessa Contact Information: sr-maf.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated May. 11, 2024 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/maf/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. [area] can be a single WFO CWA, or can be a different geographic area in the case of collaborated products DROUGHT CONDITIONS UNCHANGED FOR WEST TEXAS AND SE NM. Drought intensity and Extent D4 (Exceptional Drought): Much of Eddy County and Western Lea County D3 (Extreme Drought): Portions of the Davis Mountains. D2 (Severe Drought): Marfa Plateau, Culberson County and portions of Eddy and Lea counties. D1 (Moderate Drought): Davis Mountain Foothills, western portions of the Permian Basin and much of Brewster County. D0: (Abnormally Dry): Eastern portions of the Permian Basin and Lower Trans Pecos Recent Change in Drought Intensity One Week Drought Monitor Class Change. No changes in the last week. Precipitation Little precipitation fell during the second half of March and into early April with the Rio Grande Valley and much of southeast New Mexico falling well below normal. The Permian Basin ended up receiving much of their April rainfall over the last several days. Temperature Daily average temperatures continue to climb as the region heads into the middle of spring. Cooler than normal conditions, by about 2-3 degrees, prevailed across the Marfa Plateau and portions of southeast New Mexico. Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Most area rivers and tributaries remain near baseflow. Area reservoirs are at 46.1% conservation capacity. See next page for more details. Agricultural Impacts Per Agrilife Texas A&M Crop and Weather Report, corn has had less than ideal growing conditions due to the wind over the last couple weeks. Cotton growers consider whether or not to irrigate as conditions remain dry. Livestock was still being supplemented with grain and hay. Fire Hazard Impacts Late April and into May will continue to see times where critical fire weather conditions develop. Fuel load remains low over SE NM and parts of West Texas. Other Impacts There are no known impacts at this time. Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts The Pecos and Rio Grande Basins are below to much below normal The Conchos basin is below normal All other basins are normal Midland Monthly Hydrology Report for February March Rainfall Image Caption: USGS 7 day streamflows for Texas, valid 10 April 2024 Reservoir Pool Elevation Current Elevation Percent Full JB Thomas 2258.00 feet 2226.04 feet 20.0% Colorado City 2070.20 feet 2056.59 feet 45.7% Champion Creek 2083.00 feet 2068.65 feet 56.6% Natural Dam Salt Lake 2457.00 feet 2447.28 feet 48.4% Moss Creek 2337.00 feet 2332.20 feet 79.0% Brantley 3256.70 feet 3246.59 feet 49.0% Avalon 3177.40 feet 3173.27 feet 29.0% Red Bluff 2827.40 feet 2812.33 feet 41.3% Agricultural Impacts Soil moisture continues to rank below the 10-20th percentiles across much of West Texas and SE NM with the worst conditions over the Marfa Plateau and along the Rio Grande. During the past month, crop moisture has become noted as being abnormally dry as below normal precipitation has occurred. National resources: NASS crop progress reports: https://agindrought.unl.edu/Other.aspx Percentage of various crops affected by drought: https://agindrought.unl.edu/Home.aspx table: https://agindrought.unl.edu/Table.aspx?2 Regional resource for the midwest: https://mrcc.purdue.edu/U2U/ Fire Hazard Impacts Significant fire potential outlook looks to be above normal for May for West Texas and SE NM as dry and warm conditions look to persist. As mentioned before, fuels are not plentiful across much of SE NM and West Texas and will lessen fire hazard impacts even on days with more favorable fire weather conditions. Seven Day Precipitation Forecast Precipitation chances are slim for southeast New Mexico and West Texas with the best chance for rain with the dryline along the eastern fringes of the Permian Basin and Lower Trans Pecos. An upper level system passes to the north of the area on Monday, but only brings drier air into next week. April typically sees more precipitation for the month compared to March, but remains on the drier side compared to the summer months. Drought conditions look to persist through April with below normal precipitation expected.