Dry January Portends More Drought Ahead for Northern Arizona
“Dry January” usually means abstinence from alcohol following the excesses of the holiday season, but this year it took on another meaning as well.
While December storms brought more than double the normal level of precipitation, January saw Arizona and other Western states return to drought conditions.
According to a Jan. 21 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the overall area of the West in drought has increased from 77% to 88%. Despite this general increase, the percentage of areas experiencing exceptional drought dropped from 22% to 3%.
