New Mexico Drought Status

Below-average precipitation during the past 30 days across most of New Mexico has caused short-term drought conditions to expand slightly this month, according to the November 16 update of the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 5a). The most notable expansion occurred in the southwest portion of the state.

Overall, 69.5 percent of New Mexico is drought free, a decrease of about 7 percent from one month ago (Figure 5b). Similar to last month, no regions are experiencing drought conditions worse than abnormally dry (Figure 5b). The drought situation may change dramatically over the next six months as the current La Niña event is expected to disrupt winter weather across the western U.S., producing dry conditions across the Southwest. La Niña events often reach their maximum strength during the December–February period and may cause precipitation deficits to be most acute during this period.