Category Archives: drought

Landscape and weather shape each other and us

If you don’t live in the desert southwest, you may not be able to appreciate my sudden sorrow. Days ago, we heard rain was coming in a BIG way for the first time in nearly a month. Yesterday was cloudy, heaving black clouds visible to the east above the mountains.

Oh, but those mountains. You may know that New Mexico is split north to south by the Rio Grande. All along the eastern side of that rift, mountains rise. Weather folk call this the central mountains, but it is the tail end of the Rockies. Sometimes, it is a wall dividing weather. East of the mountains, heavy rain has fallen all up and down the state over the past 2 days. Here … nada. It’s just like anticipating an ice cold drink only to have it snatched from your grasp.

Aquifer feeding Texas High Plains rapidly shrinks | Albuquerque Journal News

Aquifer feeding Texas High Plains rapidly shrinks | Albuquerque Journal News

The chief underground water source for irrigating the agriculture-rich Texas High Plains is depleting at a pace that some fear will exhaust it far more quickly than anticipated.

Records examined by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal show the Ogallala Aquifer has dropped about 325 billion gallons every year for at least the past four decades, meaning the 40-foot decline in the water supply amounts to about a foot each year. But at least two Texas counties west of Lubbock — Parmer and Castro — have plunged more than double that amount — 100 feet.

The aquifer covers parts of eight states from the Dakotas to Texas, holds almost 3 billion acre-feet of water and could run out in 50 years, according to a Kansas study last year. An acre-foot of water is the equivalent of 1 acre of surface area covered by water 1 foot deep — 325,853 gallons.

“When anybody tells me it’s going to last for 50 years, I just laugh,” Lucia Barbato, associate director at the Center for Geospatial Technology at Texas Tech University, told the newspaper in a story published Sunday.

“How long the aquifer lasts depends on where you are.”

The Texas Tech center estimates four counties have less than 15 years before groundwater is exhausted for irrigation.

Aquifer feeding Texas High Plains rapidly shrinks | Albuquerque Journal News

Storms drench holiday weekend across NM | Albuquerque Journal News

Storms drench holiday weekend across NM | Albuquerque Journal News By Ryan Boetel / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Monday, May 26, 2014 at 12:05 am

The last time the Albuquerque area had a similar storm bring multiple days of rainfall was in September, and the last storm to bring consecutive days of any precipitation was in November, when rain and snow fell in the city, said Tim Shy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. In April and May, Albuquerque had a couple of small showers that dropped mere hundredths of an inch, he said.

Although the Roswell area got the most rain statewide, 5 inches, it was hit or miss in the Albuquerque area from Thursday through Sunday morning, with the West Side reporting nearly an inch of rain and the South Valley getting a little more than a tenth of an inch.

The East Mountains got about an inch, while a half an inch of rain fell at the Albuquerque International Sunport, Shy said. …

Roswell and the eastern plains were soaked.

Nearly 5 inches of rain fell north of Roswell, the highest concentration of rainfall in the state and the most it rained there since 1946.

State Highway 409, the road that takes people to Bottomless Lake State Park in southeastern New Mexico, flooded and will be closed for the foreseeable future, according to the state Parks Division website.

In the eastern plains, between 2 and 3 inches fell at many of the recording stations, Palucki said.

The unfortunate exception was the Gila Wilderness, which is already in the throes of a possibly active fire season. It rained just 0.02 of an inch at one location, and no rain was reported at four recording stations in or near the wilderness area, Palucki said.

Data on rainfall totals throughout the state on Sunday won’t be available until this morning, she said.

New Mexico State Police Sgt. Damyon Brown said storms weren’t factors in any serious crashes in the state, and no rescues or other emergencies stemmed from the rainfall as of Sunday evening.

Palucki said to expect more rain as the storm continues to creep east across the state today. She said to plan for scattered showers, especially in the northern and eastern portions of the state. Most of the storms will be in the late afternoon or early evening.

New Mexico is entering its fourth consecutive year of drought, which adversely affects the state’s water supplies, wildfire risk and crop yields.

“It certainly helps,” Palucki said of the storm. “But it will not reverse the drought. The deficit is far too great for just two or three or four days of rain.”

And Palucki said nothing that would have an effect on the drought is in the forecast.

Warm weather and sunny, clear skies are predicted throughout the state starting Tuesday, just in time for the workweek.

Storms drench holiday weekend across NM | Albuquerque Journal News

3/22 is World Water Day

Enjoy a glass of cool, clear water today and think about how essential it is to life. Then go blow up a goddamn dam. (Not a sincere call to violence.)

While we consider the fate of the Colorado and the Rio Grande, note the effort to dam the last wild river in New Mexico, the Gila. Don’t let that happen.

Robert Redford and Will Ferrell Star in PSA to Save the Colorado River

Ten major dams—from the Hoover Dam, completed in 1936, to the Glen Canyon Dam, erected in 1966—impede the waterway’s natural flow. Adding to its woes are the numerous towns and industries that siphon water from it and its many tributaries as they meander to the sea.

This predicament and a few possible solutions drive the Redford Center–produced documentary Watershed, which is set to premiere on World Water Day—March 22—on Pivot. Additionally, Raise the River and Change the Course, the social action campaign for the 2012 world water crisis documentary Last Call at the Oasis, are working together to return water to the Colorado. Donations to Raise the River will help acquire permanent water rights to the river and help rebuild 2,300 acres of surrounding habitats.

Robert Redford and Will Ferrell Star in PSA to Save the Colorado River

Storm leaves a mess across New Mexico | ABQJournal Online

Our yard didn’t get more than a dusting, even though it snowed off and on over more than 24 hours. Albuquerque frequently has extremely strong winds blowing from East to West through Tijeras canyon. This creates the “snow hole.” Surrounding areas — especially the mountains — may get massive amounts of precipitation while Abq gets little or none.

Storm leaves a mess across New Mexico | ABQJournal Online

Snow totals
Snowfall totals from around the state, Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon:
Albuquerque: up to 2 inches
Farmington: up to 2.1 inches
Santa Fe: up to 9.5 inches
Roswell: up to 3.3 inches
Clovis: up to 7.5 inches
Source: National Weather Service

Storm leaves a mess across New Mexico | ABQJournal Online

New Mexico is the Most Extreme Weather State of 2013 – weather.com

We’re number one!

The Most Extreme Weather State of 2013 – weather.com Most Extreme Weather State

Is there one state that has, well, taken it on the chin more than others this year?

You could make a strong argument for several states taking the prize for most extreme state of 2013. As far as touching many weather extremes, we argue for one “enchanting” choice.  

Let’s lay out our case on the following pages.

The Most Extreme Weather State of 2013 – weather.com Most Extreme Weather State

NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

Note that Magdalena is on the eastern edge of the Plains of San Augustin, a gorgeous area. A company has proposed shipping water from San Augustin to the Rio Grande. Such a pipeline would have to go past Magdalena. That might interest them, but consider that the water table dropped 20 feet *since January* without speculators sucking out water to sell miles away.

» NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

By Susan Montoya Bryan / Associated Press on Wed, Jun 5, 2013 POSTED: 4:07 pm

(AP) — The village of Magdalena is scrambling now that its sole drinking water well has gone dry.

The water table has dropped almost 20 feet since January due to the persistent drought that has plagued nearly all of New Mexico for the last three years. And the community’s one has collapsed, leaving about 1,000 residents and several businesses without water Wednesday when the level dropped below the well’s pump.

Matt Holmes with the New Mexico Rural Water Association says the problem is a combination of drought and infrastructure.

» NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

But it’s a dry heat — a gawd-awful-dry heat

Appropriate for May Day, the international distress call. I’m surprised ‘95-‘96 was even drier — I must be suppressing the memory. And small wonder my allergies are worse this year. peace, mjh

» Water year start 3rd driest for city | ABQ Journal by John Fleck

With less than an inch of rain since Oct. 1, this is the third driest start to a water year in Albuquerque since record-keeping began in 1900, according to a National Weather Service analysis.

Only 1903-04 and 1995-96 were drier, according to Deirdre Kann, science officer for the service’s Albuquerque office. Meteorologists and water managers usually start their “water year” calendar Oct. 1, a time period that captures the entire cool season’s rain and snow in a single year’s measure rather than arbitrarily splitting it in two on Jan. 1.

The Weather Service’s official gauge at Albuquerque’s airport has recorded 0.83 inch of precipitation for the water year.

The entire state of New Mexico faces serious drought conditions, but Albuquerque “is in worse shape than most locations,” according to Kann

» Water year start 3rd driest for city | ABQ Journal

» With drought comes dust | ABQ Journal by John Fleck

Due to the current drought and very dry soil conditions, there is more potential for blowing dust than usual for the entire state even in lower wind conditions.

The Environment Department realizes that although dust storms are common in New Mexico and are inherent to arid climates, inhaling dust can cause a number of serious health problems and can make some health problems worse. It can irritate the lungs and trigger allergic reactions, as well as asthma attacks. For people who already suffer from these conditions, dust can cause serious breathing problems. Dust can also cause coughing, wheezing and runny noses. Breathing large amounts of dust for prolonged periods can result in chronic breathing and lung problems.

» With drought comes dust | ABQ Journal

» New Mexico drought not getting any better | John Fleck

Gah. When processing the following, consider that 10 to 11 inches is our average — we’re getting nothing.

» New Mexico drought not getting any better | ABQ Journal

Albuquerque is 10 inches below average over the last 2-1/2 years, and the 36 and 48 month statewide averages are approaching the worst similar periods during the drought of the 1950s. “It’s not just a short term drought. This is a long term drought we’re in.” Chuck Jones, National Weather Service

» New Mexico drought not getting any better | ABQ Journal