Much of Arizona seeing moderate or severe drought conditions
Aug 6, 2020, 12:30 PM | Updated: 2:52 pm
(Pexels Photo)
PHOENIX — With the monsoon season fizzling, large portions of Arizona are now seeing drought conditions.
The latest weekly Drought Monitor map, released Thursday, shows 82% of Arizona in moderate or severe drought, impacting areas with more than 5.2 million residents.
Last week’s map showed 47% of the state under drought conditions.
Only 1/10 of an inch of rain has been measured at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport this monsoon season, which started June 15. And forecasters aren’t expecting storm activity in the next two weeks.
The Drought Monitor map also shows areas of extreme drought in northern New Mexico near the Colorado border and in New Mexico’s southeastern corner.
The Drought Monitor said the West has seen temperatures well above normal in the past week and that much of the region has been dry “with only spotty precipitation in places,” though the monsoon provided some relief to eastern New Mexico.
The map is produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.