ARIZONA, USA — Arizona saw big changes in the most recent Drought Monitor, a map that shows the levels of moderate, severe, extreme, and exceptional drought throughout the state.
The monsoon rain Arizona has seen over the past week has lowered the "exceptional drought" by 49% since the start of the wet monsoon on June 15.
Only 8.65% of Arizona is in the worst drought category as of today.
The state's exceptional drought rating dropped 68% since the peak of our drought in December 2020.
Another notable drop was in the "extreme drought" category, down 32.5% from just a week ago. Now, just over half of Arizona, including the Valley, remains in an extreme drought.
See the levels of Arizona drought drop due to record-breaking monsoon rainfall
So what did it take to see this big drop in drought severity? You can thank record-breaking monsoon rainfall for that.
Many communities around Arizona have seen 250-350% of average monsoon rainfall.
Here’s a look at the June 15 through July 28 rainfall comparison between 2020 and 2021:
The U.S. Drought Monitor is a map released every Thursday, that shows parts of the nation that are in drought. The map uses five classifications:
- Abnormally dry - showing areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought
- Moderate Drought - showing areas where there are some damage to crops or pastures and low water reservoirs and wells
- Severe Drought - showing areas where there are likely damages to crops or pastures and common water shortages
- Extreme Drought - showing areas where there are major crop or pasture losses and widespread water shortages or restrictions
- Exceptional Drought - showing areas with exceptional and widespread crop or pasture losses along with shortages in water reservoirs and wells creating water emergencies
Arizona Extreme Weather
Arizona has seen its fair share of severe weather. Here is a compilation of videos from various storms across the Grand Canyon State on our 12 News YouTube playlist.