Arizona Drought Status

Monsoonal rainfall has helped ease drought conditions in parts of Arizona, but some areas have experienced less precipitation than average, prompting the return of short-term drought conditions. Currently, 60 percent of Arizona is abnormally dry or worse, an increase of about 2 percent from one month ago. Drought conditions have improved since mid-July across all of southeast Arizona, according to the August 17 update of the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figures 4a–b). This area experienced near to above-average precipitation in late July, which helped promote the retreat of short-term drought conditions. However, monsoon storms have had trouble moving west into the low deserts, leaving much of western Arizona with below-average precipitation. This has caused an area of abnormally dry conditions to expand from northern Arizona down to the southwestern corner of the state.

Drought impacts reported in Arizona DroughtWatch have documented poor range conditions and the need for water hauling for livestock and wildlife across western Arizona. More drought impact reports can be viewed on Arizona Droughtwatch’s webpage at http://azdroughtwatch.org/.