It gives you a lot of water and then turns it off.” A map released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s drought monitor shows that more than 20 percent of New Mexico – scattered areas in the northern part of the state – is in exceptional drought, the most serious category, and more than 99 percent of the state is in some kind of drought.
“The rain made lots of silvery minnow babies,” Gensler said.
Some parts of New Mexico got a lot of rain from a system that moved into the state Monday and lingered into Thursday.
“But the moisture we got (this week) is only going to go so far,” Fontenot said.
I’m cautiously optimistic, but we have to wait and see.” This week’s rain, as vigorous as it was in some areas, did not stop the water levels in the Elephant Butte Reservoir, five miles north of Truth and Consequences, and Caballo Reservoir, 16 miles south of TorC, from dropping low enough to trigger a Rio Grande Compact provision prohibiting the storage of additional water in upstream reservoirs.
According to Article VII of the compact, New Mexico cannot store water in northern reservoirs such as El Vado, Abiquiu and Heron when the combined waters at Elephant Butte and Caballo recede to less than 400,000 acre-feet.
The Conservancy District’s Gensler said the total water in Elephant Butte and Caballo dropped below 400,000 acre-feet Sunday, putting the Article VII restriction into effect for the first time since early this year.
On Thursday, combined water in the two reservoirs was at about 394,000 acre-feet, Gensler said.
“It’s dropping pretty fast.” OK for now Gensler said the Article VII restriction would probably not change much for the irrigators on the 70,000 acres of cropland served by the Conservancy District.
And he noted that even though Article VII restricts the storage of additional water, it does not prohibit the release of water that had already been in storage.

Meteorologist Abbi Duval with the National Weather Service says don’t be fooled by the rainstorm we saw early Sunday morning, although much of the area saw almost an inch of rainfall, it’s still not enough to alleviate this drought.
“We only got about 52 hundredths here at the office, and while every little bit helps, we’re going to need some more to break this drought,” said Duval.
And with a drought is the inherent danger of fires… From the McDannald fire in the Davis Mountains to the Mallard fire in the panhandle.
The dangers of fires are still very real even with the rain that fell over West Texas early Sunday morning.
“I mean you could look around all parts of the Permian Basin and see that we are still in a drought, even though we got that rain, the grass is still brown and there’s a lot that could still go up [in flames],” Duval explains.
But we should still hold on to hope.
“It’s [rain] gonna come, we’re not gonna stay in a drought forever.
So take the necessary precautions to keep fires from starting,” Duval says.
But for this Meteorologist, She says any rain is a welcome sight.
“It was very, very nice to see some rain on the radar,” Duval explained.

The state’s climatologist, John Nielsen-Gammon, said cities that draw their water from the Guadalupe and San Antonio rivers are not worried yet, but farmers should be.
This was true in Victoria, where the city plans not to restrict residents’ water usage until the Guadalupe’s flow falls at or below 200 cubic feet per second.
At about the same time, though, Chris Buzek was traversing his more than 2,500 acres of corn, milo, cotton and soybeans, praying for rain.
Buzek, a 30-year-old who took over his father’s farm after his death in 2009, said more than 1 inch of rain would be especially helpful.
“But we will deal with whatever Mother Nature gives us and go on down the road,” he said.
He said that saved those crops from Hurricane Harvey last year.
Not all were so lucky.
Some are using this as an opportunity to stress the importance of conserving water.
The Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation, for example, are recommending that all Texas cities limit outdoor watering to no more than two days per week to deal with what they call “climatic whiplash” and an expected population growth of 23 million by 2050.
And these groups last gave Victoria a score of 52 out of 100 when it comes to water conservation.

The January 2018 Phoenix weather statistics by themselves aren’t particularly remarkable, but a look at the bigger picture will get your attention. January 2018 was the third warmest ever for Phoenix when you look at the average temperature of 61.2 degrees. Average daily temperature is determined by adding the daily highs and lows and dividing by two. And it was the 34th driest month for the city with just 0.21 inch of rain recorded at Sky Harbor Airport, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix. When you consider that 2017 was the warmest year ever for Phoenix and the city had only 4.96 inches of rain (8.03 is normal), the January 2018 numbers take on additional significance. The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center calls for a 50 percent probability of above-normal temperatures and a 40-percent probability (50 percent in the southeastern corner of the state) of below-normal rain and snowfall for the next three months, so it’s easy to see why there could be cause for concern. Moderate to severe drought across Arizona The most recent map for Arizona from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the entire state is experiencing…

After Sunday’s soaking rain, drought conditions took a big hit during Thursday’s United States Drought Monitor update. The entire area of the northern Midlands covered by the second stage of drought known as moderate drought have been downgraded to the first stage known as abnormally dry. Just last week, drought expanded and encroached on every portion of the Midlands. Some areas in the southern Midlands were not included prior to last Thursday’s update. In the latest USDM outlook, those areas still remain in the first stage of drought. Looking at last Sunday’s precipitation, some areas recorded nearly two and a half inches of rainfall. The National Weather Service observed 2.42 inches in Saluda County’s Ridge Spring area while Newberry County’s Prosperity saw 2.40 inches. Irmo, Elgin, Manning and Blythewood recorded more than two inches of rain. “Sunday’s storm system really dropped some impressive numbers in areas that desperately needed the rain,” says SkyWACH…

Most parts of the Eastern Cape have experienced 2 years of below average annual rainfall, but the South African Weather Service has confirmed that the Uitenhage region has been the worst off with 5 years of below average rainfall.
Rainfall over the Eastern Cape for 2017 was generally dry.
This is in line with what international climate scientists have been projecting that global rainfall patterns will shift.
And these seasonal shifts affect water resources across the planet.
“The seasonal forecast does not look promising with only near normal rain forecast for most of the Eastern Cape,” said Garth Sampson, Client Liaison Officer (Eastern Cape) at the South African Weather Service.
“Considering the above and that the dam levels are fast approaching the 25% mark, it is vital that we all conserve water.” According to the weather service, the prolonged period of below average rainfall in areas of the Eastern Cape can be divided as follows: •East London, Grahamstown, Port Alfred, Port Elizabeth, Patensie and Joubertina have had 2 years of below average annual rainfall (2016-2017).
•Graaf Reinett and Cradock have experienced below average rainfall for 3 years (2015-2017).
•Mthatha and Somerset East have had 4 years of below average rainfall (2014-2017).
•Uitenhage, is the worst off with 5 years’ below average rainfall (2013-2017).
Here are some comparisons of average annual rainfall totals (first figure) and the 2017 actual rainfall (second figure) of towns in the Eastern Cape: Queenstown (442 mm – 550 mm), Mthatha (675 mm – 587 mm), Graaf Reinett (304 mm – 216 mm), Cradock (376 mm – 347 mm), Joubertina (394 mm – 207 mm), Patensie (459 mm – 340 mm), Uitenhage (423 mm – 315 mm), Port Elizabeth (616 mm – 494 mm), Port Alfred (585 mm – 485 mm), Grahamstown (523 mm – 504 mm), East London (834 mm – 807 mm).

National Weather Service Says Some Drought Relief Possible Through End of Month.
Meteorologist in Charge of the National Weather Service Des Moines Office Jeff Johnson tells KNIA/KRLS News that conditions may be favorable for more rainfall throughout most of central Iowa during that time frame.
“It looks like in the near term, in the next eight-to-14 days, looks warmer than normal and actually a little wetter perhaps, and with the tendencies here, maybe we will pick up some rain in the next few weeks.” However, he says long-term, the drought may stay in place as fall and winter tend to be drier times of the year.
Chances of periodic, scattered showers and thunderstorms are increased over the next week.
Here are rainfall total’s from Saturday through early Sunday morning: KNIA/KRLS in Knoxville – .78″ Molengracht in Pella – .61″ Lake Red Rock – .93″ Near Tracy – .64″ Near Bussey – 1.11″ According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report, portions of central Marion County are now considered in extreme drought, while the rest of the county remains in severe drought conditions.
Stay tuned to KNIA/KRLS for the latest weather information.

June was drier, warmer than normal, but drought an unlikely threat.
0 June was warmer and drier than normal in the Austin area, as triple-digit temperatures arrived earlier than usual across Central Texas this year, data from the National Weather Service shows.
The hottest day of the year so far in Austin was June 23, when temperatures reached 104 degrees at Camp Mabry and 102 at Austin-Bergstrom, according to the weather service.
The average high temperature for the month as of June 30 came out 2 degrees warmer than usual, clocking in at 94.3 at Camp Mabry.
Meanwhile, June only saw about 3 inches of rainfall, which was about 1.3 inches less than normal.
But Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose cautioned about reading too much into — well, the readings.
“But we’re going to end the month short (on rain),” he said.
“We’re not anywhere near the situation we were in 2011, when we started hitting 100s in May,” Rose said.
“We’re not really in a drought right now.” He added: “We’ve got a lot of heat ahead of us for the next two months.” But that’s not unusual for Austin or Texas, nor does it appear to be a repeat of 2011’s brutal summer, when Austin had 90 days with triple-digit temperatures.
As the summer wears on and the heat builds, Rose said that folks should keep one eye on the mercury and another on the Gulf of Mexico, where meteorologists have seen indications that the tropics could produce more storms than normal.

After 2016 drought, Tennessee’s flush with water.
Last year was, well, last year.
It was Eisentrout’s way of explaining how East Tennessee is 3.65 inches of rain above normal year-to-date after being an inch below normal and well on its way to a historic drought at this time last year.
The 2016 drought Today there are virtually no counties in Tennessee experiencing drought; last year at this time drought covered nearly all of Middle Tennessee and all of East Tennessee.
A dry April and May there had put Davidson County at 18.9 inches last year at this time.
The drought there came later in the year.
Those few inches of rain can make all of the difference.
"Last year we were looking at a severe drought by late fall, and this year we are looking at a much better situation."
“They have seen a great yield (of hay for their cattle).
“Water and excess humidity are the epicenter for fungal organisms.” Denton said tomatoes – the big crop in Grainger County – are especially prone to problems with fungus in the type of weather conditions East Tennessee is experiencing.

Recent rainfall douses fears of drought for St. Johns County.
Above-average rainfall totals over the last month have elevated St. Johns County above moderate drought conditions, with wildfire warnings and burn bans being lifted and the local water table showing recovery.
According to the National Weather Service, from late-May through the first three weeks of June the region west of Interstate 95 received from 10 to as much as 15 inches of rain, which is considered about twice the norm for this time of year.
Areas east of I-95 saw a total of between 5 and 8 inches of rain.
“It’s been a pretty prolific last 30 days of rainfall,” said Ben Nelson, a meteorologist with the Jacksonville office of the National Weather Service.
Nelson said in St. Johns County the recent soaking was more than enough to help relieve the drought.
“Usually, when we get upwards of 10-plus inches of rain you’d see it go toward flooding and that’s just not the case.” Statewide, Florida is beginning to inch toward more normal rainfall totals, according to the National Weather Service.
Nelson said it was difficult to predict what the rest of the summer might bring since rainstorms are dependent at this point in the season on sea breeze patterns, tropical surges and other factors.
“We feel very good about what these rains have meant in alleviating the severe fire conditions,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, whose department includes the Florida Forest Service.
“And now, in true Florida fashion, we can go from one extreme to the other and prepare for tropical storm activity.” The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.