DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TEXAS /SANTA TERESA NEW MEXICO 900 205 PM FRI AUG 22 2008 ...RECENT MONSOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH CONSIDERABLE RAINFALL FROM THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE DOLLY HAVE BROUGHT BENEFICIAL RAINS TO THE BORDERLAND AREA RELAXING DROUGHT CONDITIONS... ...DROUGHT CONDITIONS AS OF AUGUST 19 ARE NEUTRAL FOR ALL AREAS IN THE EL PASO FORECAST AREA OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND FAR WEST TEXAS... SYNOPSIS... THE RETURN OF A NORMAL MONSOON SEASON AND THE ADDED ENHANCEMENT OF THE HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THE REMNANTS OF DOLLY JULY 25 TO JULY 27 HAVE BROUGHT MOST AREAS A SURPLUS OF YEARLY RAINFALL VS A DEFICIT WHICH PREVAILED THROUGH JUNE 30. EL PASO RECEIVED A RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 1.77 INCHES FOR JULY 26 AND AND THE JULY RAINFALL IS NOW RANKED AS THE 5TH HIGHEST SINCE 1879. DEMING NEW MEXICO RECEIVED 7.17 INCHES OF RAIN SO FAR FOR JULY WHICH IS A NEW RECORD (4.30 INCHES IN 1986). AS OF 08/21/08...EL PASO TEXAS IS RUNNING 28% ABOVE NORMAL FOR ANNUAL PRECIPITATION TO DATE. THE START OF THE SUMMER MONSOON SEASON BEGAN AROUND JUNE 28-30 WITH THE START OF THE SEASONAL SHIFT OF SURFACE AND UPPER WINDS TO A MORE SOUTH AND EASTERLY DIRECTION ALONG WITH A NOTED INCREASE IN MOISTURE LEVELS OVER THE REGION. THIS MOISTURE ADVECTION ALONG WITH MODERATE INSTABILITY IN THE UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE HAS TRIGGERED THE DAILY DEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTIVE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. NOTE THAT FAR WEST TEXAS AND THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF NEW MEXICO RELY ON THE SUMMER WET MONSOON SEASON TO PROVIDE SLIGHTLY MORE THAN HALF OF THE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION. VIRTUALLY ALL THIS PRECIPITATION IS FROM CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WHICH DURING JULY, AUGUST , AND EVEN INTO SEPTEMBER CAN PRODUCE BRIEF LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNBURSTS GIVING SOME AREAS FLASH FLOODING...WHICH IS THE NUMBER 1 KILLER AMONG STORM RELATED FATALITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. THE U.S. SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK FOR OUR ENTIRE CWA IS FOR CONTINUED IMPROVING CONDITIONS FROM JULY 19 TROUGH OCTOBER 2008. THE CURRENT U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP CAN BE FOUND AT...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/dm_state.htm?nm,w
IMPACTS... FIRE DANGER CATEGORIES HAVE IMPROVED TO MODERATE TO LOW. NEVERTHELESS WILDFIRES ARE STILL POSSIBLE. REMEMBER THAN DROUGHT IS THE LEADING HAZARD IN ECONOMIC LOSES EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS... THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER OF NOAA PREDICTS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE UPCOMING MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER...OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER FOR FAR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO WITH AROUND EQUAL CHANCES (AROUND 33%) FOR ALL PRECIPITATION CATEGORIES (BELOW...AT...ABOVE NORMAL). A SEMI MONSOONAL PATTERN CONTINUES IN PLACE OVER THE AREA BUT IS SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF FADING AS WE APPROACH THE END OF AUGUST AND THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER. UPPER AIR PATTERNS ARE SLOWING HINTING OF THE UPCOMING FALL SEASON. THE OFFICIAL SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK VALID THROUGH NOV 2008 CALLS FOR NO DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND FAR WEST TEXAS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS PRODUCT WILL USUALLY BE UPDATED AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH OR MORE OFTEN IF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN WEATHER...WATER SUPPLY...OR DROUGHT CONDITIONS OCCUR. 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://www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php
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. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 7955 AIRPORT ROAD SANTA TERESA NM 88008 PHONE...505-589-4088 DAVID NOVLAN CLIMATE FOCAL POINT Dave.Novlan@noaa.gov WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/ELPASO NOVLAN