New Mexico Drought Status

Drought conditions have intensified across parts of New Mexico due to below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures during the past 30 days. Nearly all of New Mexico continues to experience some level of drought; less than 1 percent is classified with abnormally dry conditions. Also, severe or worse conditions extend over more than 80 percent of the state, according to the June 19 update of the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figures 5a–b). This represents a substantial increase from one month ago, when such conditions blanketed slightly more than 60 percent of the state. The most pronounced drought classification changes occurred in the western half of New Mexico, where drought in some areas moved from abnormally dry to severe. On June 17, 85 percent of New Mexico rangelands rated as poor or very poor. Only 3 percent was rated as being in good or excellent condition, representing the lowest statewide percent in the country.

New Mexico experienced some drought improvement, albeit small. On May 15, a sliver of exceptional drought covered areas of Roosevelt and Curry countries in the east-central part of the state. In the last month, drought in these areas slightly improved to extreme conditions.  

In drought-related news, extreme fire hazards brought on by drought caused New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to recommend that cities and counties move quickly to enact local firework bans prior to the July 4 (The Las Cruces Sun-News, June 12).