National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

 October 2011 - July 2012

July is the first full month of the New Mexico summer monsoon season and is generally one of the wettest months of the year for many locations.  However, July 2012 was a disappointingly dry month for nearly all of northeast New Mexico, for the lower Rio Grande Valley, and for the east central plains as well.  Above normal July precipitation was fairly widespread from the southern San Juan Mountains in central Rio Arriba County through the Jemez Mountains in northern Sandoval County and west into parts of McKinley County and San Juan County (with a dry exception being the immediate Four Corners).

The first seven months of calendar year 2012 were much drier than normal for all climate divisions within the state.  Statewide precipitation of 58 percent of normal through July ranked 2012 as the 8th driest start to any year on record.  This follows 2011 where the January through July period was the driest on record at 42 percent of normal.

The Northeastern Plains climate division was the driest area through July at just 48 percent of normal precipitation, while the Southwestern Mountains climate division was the least dry at 69 percent of normal precipitation.

Locations with significant July 2012 precipitation included: Antelope Wells (Port of Entry in southern Hidalgo County) with 4.88 inches, Gascon with 4.33 inches, Elk 2E with 4.08 inches, White Signal (near Silver City) with 3.81 inches, and Johnson Ranch (near Cuba) with 3.78 inches.

Water Year Precipitation 2012