Text Products for DGT Issued by VEF

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Las Vegas, NV
Versions: 1 2
000
AXUS75 KVEF 281043
DGTVEF
AZC015-CAC027-071-NVC003-009-017-023-051045-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Las Vegas NV
343 AM PDT Tue Sep 28 2021 /343 AM MST Tue Sep 28 2021/

...SLIGHT IMPROVEMENTS IN SHORT TERM DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE
ACROSS WESTERN ARIZONA BUT EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT
CONDITIONS CONTINUE FOR MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND
MOJAVE DESERT...

.SYNOPSIS:

Drought intensity and extent:

According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor from September 23,
slight short term drought improvement across western Arizona.
Severe drought(D2) was noted across eastern Mohave County,
northeast Clark and southeastern Lincoln Counties due to well
above normal rainfall so far this monsoon season. Extreme (D3) to
exceptional (D4) drought exists across the remainder of southern
Nevada, southeast California and the lower Colorado River Valley.

.Hydrologic conditions:

Most of the precipitation from this monsoon season fell across
western Arizona. Just over the past two weeks, additional rainfall
between 0.25" and 1.00" has occurred in parts of northwest
Arizona. This past monsoon season the official station at Kingman
has reported 5.92 inches of rain. That makes it the 8th wettest
season since records began in 1901. That makes up about 74 percent
of the annual rainfall for Kingman based on the 1991-2020 normals.

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS:

Hydrology:

Due to the multidecadal drought the Bureau of Reclamation declared
the first water shortage for the Lower Basin states for 2022. The
shortage declaration indicates Nevada will receive 21,000 less
acre/feet, Arizona 512,000 less acre/feet and Mexico 80,000 less
acre/feet from Lake Mead. An additional 181,000 acre/feet of water
will be released from upper Colorado Basin reservoirs to assist in
Lake Powell water levels.

Lower water levels at Lake Mead have lead the National Park Service
to transition to using pipe mats for boat launches at Echo Bay,
Temple Bar, South Cove and Hemenway Harbor.

Las Vegas Boat Harbor will be moving their slips an additional 80
feet into the water and will likely need an additional move later
this year.

Fire Weather:

Rainfall brought a decrease in wildfire activity to northwest
Arizona. However, there have been numerous small fires ignited by
lightning in parts of southern Nevada and southeast California.
There continue to be some reports of of Pinion-Juniper dying off
but not at the magnitude of this Spring. Stricter fire
restrictions have been implemented by land management agencies.

Agricultural:

Rainfall across parts of northwest Arizona has lead to an
improvement in rangeland vegetation and water being captured behind
small man-made reservoirs for livestock. Otherwise areas not as
fortunate, water hauls continue to be needed. In addition to water
hauls, ranchers are supplementing with additional hay as well as
cutting down the number of head grazing on rangeland.

Wildlife:

Nevada Division of Wildlife recently conducted emergency water hauls
for big horn sheep throughout southern Nevada.

Recreation:

Nevada Division of State Parks reported low water levels at Echo
Canyon and Spring Valley State Parks. Low water levels and exposed
aquatic plants fisherman are facing less than desirable fishing
conditions. Boat access is limited requiring fisherman to
shoreline.

.LOCAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK:

For October 3 to 7, temperatures look to be above normal while
precipitation chances will be slight above normal for northwest
Arizona.

The 8 to 14 day outlook, for October 5 to 11, calls for slightly above
normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.

The Three-Month outlook for November-January, indicates above
normal temperatures and and below normal precipitation.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE:

This product will be updated October 21 or sooner if drought
conditions change significantly.

.RELATED WEB SITES:

Additional information on current drought conditions may be found
at the following web addresses:
US Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
US Drought Information System: https://www.drought.gov
NOAA Drought Page: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought
Northeast Regional Climate Center:
http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu
New York State Climate Office:
http://nysc.eas.cornell.edu

Additional water and river information:
NWS: https://water.weather.gov
OWP: https://water.noaa.gov
US Geological Survey (USGS): https://water.usgs.gov
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): https://www.usace.army.mil

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving the
National Weather Service and National Centers for Environmental
Information, the USDA, state and regional center climatologists
and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this
statement has been gathered from NWS and FAA observation sites,
state cooperative extension services, the USDA, USACE and USGS.

.CONTACT INFORMATION:

If you have questions or comments about this Drought Information
Statement, please contact:

National Weather Service, Las Vegas NV
7851 Dean Martin Dr.
Las Vegas, NV 89139
Email: w-vef.webmaster@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
