Tuesday March 19, 2024
12 News —
After a brutally dry summer, Arizona is catching a little relief from the drought even as our water systems take a hit.
More of Arizona has gotten out of drought conditions, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Roughly 13.5% of the state — mostly southwestern Arizona — isn’t facing a drought. That’s a 5% increase from December.
Most of the Valley is still under a severe drought warning meaning that fire danger is high and there’s little water for plants and wildlife. Extreme drought is still a concern in parts of Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties.
Almost all of northern Arizona is covered by abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions. The good news is that this is an improvement from three months ago. Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of the state under each condition:
- 1.8% is under extreme drought conditions, down from 6% in December
- 15.5% is under severe drought conditions, down from 28.9%. in December
- 31% is under moderate drought conditions, up from 22.2% in December
- 37.9% is under abnormally dry conditions, up from 34.6% in December