drought

Drought conditions persist throughout almost all of Arizona and New Mexico, and if another dry winter emerges many of the regions’ reservoir volumes will continue to decline, posing serious water-supply challenges in several areas, according to the January Climate Outlook from CLIMAS.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 597 counties in 14 states as natural disaster areas due to the persistent drought and heat, making them the first disaster designations of 2013. The designations include 17 counties in Utah, 4 in Arizona, 19 in New Mexico, 9 in Nevada, 157 in Texas, and 30 in Colorado.

The contiguous U.S. experienced its warmest year on record last year, with the average annual temperature 3.2 degrees F above average and—at 55.3 degrees F—a full degree warmer than the previous record set in 1998, according to the annual State of the Climate report from NOAA.

Temperatures during late November and early December were more than 2 degrees F above average in Arizona and New Mexico, according to the December Climate Outlook from CLIMAS. In fact, in many parts of eastern New Mexico, temperatures were as high as 6 degrees F above average.

Warm temperatures and dry conditions prevailed across Arizona and New Mexico last month, according to the November Southwest Climate Outlook from CLIMAS.

Move away from water-intensive crops, properly schedule irrigation, and scale back acreage to be planted: these are a few ways in which New Mexico farmers can prepare themselves for the effects of drought, according to a new publication by New Mexico State University.

Warmer-than-average temperatures have persisted in Arizona and New Mexico over the past month, with temperatures 2 to 4 degrees F above average, according to the latest Climate Outlook from CLIMAS.

September marked the 16^th consecutive month with above-average temperatures in the contiguous U.S., according to the latest State of the Climate report from NOAA.

Normal drought-induced forest stress by mid-century may be greater than the stress induced by the most severe droughts over the past 1,000 years, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change.

Posted by Zack Guido | on September 28, 2012
This article is the second in a two-part series exploring effects of the current drought in New Mexico's Lower Rio Grande Valley and impacts to pecan farming. Part one discussed observed and expected changes in water supply and how regional water managers are responding.