676
AXUS75 KTWC 302007
DGTTWC
AZC003-009-011-019-021-023-DDHHMM-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
106 PM MST TUE APR 30 2013

...EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS MOST OF COCHISE COUNTY AND THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES...
...SEVERE TO MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA...

SYNOPSIS...

ALTHOUGH SOUTHEAST ARIZONA HAS SEEN SOME WINTER STORMS BRINGING
WIDESPREAD VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOWS TO THE AREA...MOST
LOCATIONS HAVE SEEN BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION SINCE OCTOBER.
DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE DETERIORATED WITH MOST OF GRAHAM...COCHISE
AND GREENLEE COUNTIES NOW IN AN EXTREME DROUGHT STATUS. THE
REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA IS EITHER IN SEVERE OR MODERATE
DROUGHT STATUS. SINCE MAY AND JUNE ARE THE DRIEST MONTHS OF THE
YEAR...DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY WORSEN BEFORE THE MONSOON
RAINS ARRIVE.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

PORTIONS OF GRAHAM COUNTY ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED WATER
RESTRICTIONS. THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
SERVICE HAS RECEIVED REPORTS OF INCREASED TREE MORTALITY DUE TO THE
LONG-TERM DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN THE GILA RIVER VALLEY.

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS...

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS IN MOST OF COCHISE...GRAHAM AND
GREENLEE COUNTIES ARE IN THE 20TH PERCENTILE OR LESS. ELSEWHERE IN
SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA CONDITIONS ARE GENERALLY IN THE 30TH PERCENTILE
OR LESS.

FIRE CONDITIONS...

THE FIRE DANGER RATING IS HIGH TO VERY HIGH ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
WITH SMALL POCKETS OF EXTREME FIRE DANGER. FUEL CONDITIONS ARE CLOSE
TO AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. MORE INFORMATION ON THE FIRE
CONDITIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE RELATED WEB SITES SECTION GIVEN BELOW.

PRECIPITATION SUMMARY...
RAINFALL SINCE OCTOBER HAS BEEN WELL BELOW NORMAL ACROSS ALL OF
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA.

                      2013 RAIN     WATER YEAR
STATION             JAN 1-  %%%%  | OCT 1-  %%%%
                    APR 30  NRML  | APR 30  NRML
TUCSON AIRPORT       1.73"   61%  |  2.94"   56%
PICACHO PEAK         2.32"   64%  |  4.06"   66%
NOGALES              1.07"   29%  |  2.69"   38%
DOUGLAS              0.87"   41%  |  1.50"   32%
SIERRA VISTA         1.86"   71%  |  3.21"   64%
WILLCOX              0.82"   27%  |  1.73"   28%
SAFFORD              0.58"   24%  |  1.46"   31%
ORGAN PIPE N.M.      2.09"   68%  |  3.04"   57%

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

THE LATEST SEASONAL FORECAST FOR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA...ISSUED BY THE
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...INDICATES AN EQUAL CHANCE OF BELOW, NEAR
AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION FROM MAY THROUGH JULY.  HIGHER
CHANCES EXIST FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES DURING THIS SAME TIME
PERIOD.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...

MOST OF THE OBSERVED STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS IN SOUTHEAST ARIZONA ARE
BELOW THE NORMAL MEAN.  THE PERCENTAGES OF THE NORMAL MEAN IN APRIL
FOR SPECIFIC RIVER GAUGE LOCATIONS ARE:

SAN FRANCISCO RIVER AT CLIFTON...25%
GILA RIVER NEAR CLIFTON...32%
GILA RIVER AT THE HEAD OF SAFFORD VALLEY...45%
GILA RIVER AT CALVA...26%
SAN PEDRO RIVER NEAR CHARLESTON...31%
ARAVAIPA CREEK NEAR MAMMOTH...45%
SANTA CRUZ RIVER NEAR LOCHIEL...44%

SAN CARLOS RESERVOIR IS CURRENTLY AT LESS THAN 0.1% OF CAPACITY.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED AS DROUGHT CONDITIONS CHANGE. SEE
THE WEB ADDRESSES GIVEN BELOW FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE CONDITIONS.

&&

RELATED WEB SITES...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT
THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

U.S. DROUGHT PORTAL... HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.GOV
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR... HTTP://DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU
SOUTHWEST FIRE CONDITIONS... HTTP://GACC.NIFC.GOV/SWCC/INDEX.HTM
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER... HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV
ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES...
   HTTP://WWW.AZWATER.GOV/AZDWR/STATEWIDEPLANNING/DROUGHT/DEFAULT.HTM
WESTERN REGION CLIMATE CENTER... HTTP://WWW.WRCC.DRI.EDU
OFFICE OF THE ARIZONA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST... HTTP://AZCLIMATE.ASU.EDU
NWS WFO TUCSON... HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION...
NWS... HTTP://WATER.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS2/INDEX.PHP?WFO=TWC
USGS... HTTP://WATERDATA.USGS.GOV/AZ/NWIS/CURRENT?TYPE=FLOW

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

DATA FOR THIS STATEMENT WAS COMPILED FROM A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT
FEDERAL...STATE...AND LOCAL AGENCIES. THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A
MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING THE NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND
NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL
CLIMATE CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION
CENTER.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION
STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
520 NORTH PARK AVENUE, SUITE 304
TUCSON, AZ 85719
PHONE: 520-670-6526
W-TWC.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV

$$


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