DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
1100 AM MDT THU AUG 14 2008
...SEVERE DROUGHT LINGERS IN UNION COUNTY...
...SUMMER STORMS BRING RAIN TO THE SOUTH AND WEST...
SYNOPSIS...
THE SUMMER THUNDERSTORM SEASON ERUPTED DURING THE FIRST
WEEK OF JULY WITH POCKETS OF HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN THIRD OF NEW MEXICO. IN FITS AND SPURTS...SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WORKED THEIR WAY NORTH AND WEST THROUGH
THE STATE DURING JULY. ONLY PARTS OF SAN JUAN COUNTY...
NORTHWEST RIO ARRIBA COUNTY...LOS ALAMOS COUNTY...AND
NORTHEAST UNION COUNTY...MISSED OUT ON NEAR NORMAL OR
GREATER THAN NORMAL RAINFALL DURING JULY.
WITH THE SUMMER THUNDERSTORM SEASON EXPECTED TO PERSIST
THROUGH AUGUST...DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY ONLY BE A
SIGNIFICANT CONCERN IN PARTS OF NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO GOING
INTO THE START OF THE FALL SEASON.
LA NINA CONDITIONS...WHICH WERE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE MEAGER SPRING PRECIPITATION ACROSS MUCH OF NEW MEXICO...
HAD FADED TO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL
PACIFIC OCEAN REGIONS AS OF MID JULY.
THE CURRENT U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP CAN BE FOUND AT...
http://drought.unl.edu/dm/dm_state.htm?nm,w
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
IMPROVEMENTS IN MOISTURE AND HUMIDITY HAVE ALLOWED THE CIBOLA
NATIONAL FOREST TO LIFT FIRE RESTRICTIONS FROM THE SANDIA...
MOUNTAINAIR...MAGDALENA...AND MOUNT TAYLOR RANGER DISTRICTS AS
OF JULY 11. LINCOLN NATIONAL FORESTS ALSO DROPPED FIRE
RESTRICTIONS ON JULY 11.
KIOWA NATIONAL GRASSLANDS...ALSO ADMINISTERED BY THE CIBOLA
NATIONAL FOREST...LOWERED THEIR FIRE RESTRICTIONS TO STAGE I
FROM WHAT HAD BEEN STAGE II RESTRICTIONS DURING JUNE.
THE NAVAJO NATION RETAINS FIRE RESTRICTIONS ON THE RESERVATION
IN NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO. CAMPFIRES ARE PERMITTED ONLY IN
DEVELOPED RECREATION AREAS. SMOKING AND FIREWORKS ARE
PROHIBITED. THE ZUNI PUEBLO ENTERED RESTRICTIONS ON MAY 11.
MOST OF THE PUEBLOS IN NEW MEXICO REMAIN UNDER STAGE I FIRE
RESTRICTIONS.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
THE NEAR UNIFORMLY DRY CONDITIONS THIS SPRING LEFT SEVERAL
REGIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION DEFICITS THROUGH THE
FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR. DESPITE THE NEAR NORMAL TO
ABUNDANT JULY PRECIPITATION IN MOST AREAS OF THE STATE...
PARTS OF UNION COUNTY - PASAMONTE...GRENVILLE...AND AMISTAD -
STILL REPORTED LARGE PRECIPITATION DEFICITS AS OF THE END
OF JULY.
A FEW PRECIPITATION STATISTICS FOR SELECT LOCATIONS FOR THE
FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 2008...JANUARY THROUGH JULY.
OBSERVED DEFICIT PERCENT OF NORMAL
PASAMONTE 4.71 INCHES 4.53 INCHES 51
GRENVILLE 5.61 4.78 54
AMISTAD 5SSW 5.06 4.15 55
SOCORRO 2.54 1.92 57
ROSWELL 4.87 1.90 72
MOUNTAINAIR 5.32 1.97 73
SOME LOCATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF THE STATE REPORTED
RECORD RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH OF JULY. CLOUDCROFT...DEMING...
ELEPHANT BUTTE DAM AND WINSTON ALL SET NEW PRECIPITATION
RECORDS FOR THE WETTEST MONTH EVER. NMSU AT LAS CRUCES AS
WELL AS TULAROSA BOTH REPORTED RECORD SETTING JULY RAINFALL.
THE 9.76 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION AT RUIDOSO IN JULY 2008 WAS
THE MOST FOR ANY ONE MONTH SINCE 11.36 INCHES WAS REPORTED
IN AUGUST OF 1984.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS...
THE NEAR TERM WEATHER OUTLOOK CALLS FOR COOLER TEMPERATURES
AND INCREASED CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
MOST OF NORTHERN NEW MEXICO THROUGH MONDAY AUGUST 18...
FOLLOWED BY A RETURN TO NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH HIT
AND MISS LATE MONSOON SEASON SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
THROUGH THE END OF AUGUST.
THE MONSOON SEASON ACTIVITY OF DAILY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS NORMALLY FADES NEAR THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER
AS THE WESTERLY WINDS ALOFT BRING DRIER AND COOLER AIR TO
MUCH OF NEW MEXICO.
FOR THE LATEST WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF
NEW MEXICO, PLEASE SEE THE NWS WFO ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE AT...
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
RESERVOIR STORAGE IS ABOVE NORMAL AT ABIQUIU LAKE...EL VADO
LAKE AND COSTILLA LAKE...WHILE WATER LEVELS WERE CLOSE TO.
NORMAL AT EAGLE NEST LAKE...NAVAJO LAKE...AND HERON LAKE.
WELL BELOW NORMAL STORAGE PERSISTS AT CONCHAS LAKE...ELEPHANT
BUTTE LAKE...BLUEWATER LAKE AND SANTA ROSA LAKE.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED IN EARLY SEPTEMBER OR SOONER IF
NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN WEATHER...
WATER SUPPLY...OR DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
RELATED WEB SITES...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT OR PAST DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY
BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES:
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
NWS PRECIPITATION ANALYSIS PAGE...
http://water.weather.gov
PUBLIC LANDS INFORMATION CENTER...
http://publiclands.org/firenews/pressreleases/nm.php
CLIMATOLOGY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY LINKS...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/whatis/climlinks.htm
WESTERN REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION...
NWS.... http://ahps.srh.noaa.gov/index.php?wfo=abq
USGS... http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nm/nwis/current?type=flow
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.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT
INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2341 CLARK CARR LOOP SE
ALBUQUERQUE NM 87106
PHONE...505-244-9147
SR-ABQ.webmaster@noaa.gov