{"id":39,"date":"2024-11-12T22:24:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T22:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/azclimate\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2026-04-28T19:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:22:34","slug":"drought","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/azclimate\/drought\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-bootstrap-blocks-container container mb-0 pt-6 pt-xl-12 mb-10\">\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-bootstrap-blocks-row row justify-content-between\">\n\t\n\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-7 mb-6\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arizona&#8217;s drought<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Arizona is currently in a long-term drought that started in 1994. Since Arizona has an arid and semi-arid climate, highly variable precipitation is a normal part of the state. This makes long-term drought in Arizona more than a single dry season and instead becomes a series of dry years interrupted by a wet year or two. Since 1994, most watersheds in the state have experienced only a total of nine or ten wet years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deep canyon topography of the Western U.S. is ideal for creating large reservoirs, like Lake Mead and Lake Powell along the Colorado River or Roosevelt Lake along the Salt River in Arizona. These reservoirs help assist water supply during dry years. Read the history of the Salt-Verde Reservoir system on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.srpnet.com\/about\/history\/default.aspx\">SRP history website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current status of Arizona\u2019s reservoirs is on our <a href=\"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/azclimate\/precip\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/azclimate\/precip\/\">Precipitation page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Short-term drought status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<a title=\"Short-term drought status\" href=\"https:\/\/droughtmonitor.unl.edu\/CurrentMap\/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?AZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/droughtmonitor.unl.edu\/data\/png\/current\/current_az_trd.png\" class=\"img-fluid\" style=\"width:500px;height:auto\"><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>Short-term drought status is published each Thursday  by the U.S. Drought Monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drought is assessed weekly by the U.S. Drought Monitor team, supported by members of the Arizona <a href=\"https:\/\/new.azwater.gov\/drought\/mtc\">Drought Monitoring Technical Committee<\/a> (MTC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arizona MTC provides a short-term drought report each month: <a href=\"https:\/\/new.azwater.gov\/drought\/drought-status#monthlyStatus2\">Monthly Short-Term Drought Report<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drought impacts are variable and differ across the country. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/droughtmonitor.unl.edu\/About\/AbouttheData\/DroughtClassification.aspx\">Drought Classifications<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Long-term drought status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Long-term drought is assessed every three months by the AZ State Climate Office. The analysis includes 24-month, 36-month and 48-month Standardized Precipitation Evaporative Index data. The SPEI takes into account precipitation and evaporation due to temperature. Long-term drought can impact water resources related to streamflow, aquifer recharge and reservoir storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arizona MTC provides a long-term drought report each quarter: <a href=\"https:\/\/new.azwater.gov\/drought\/drought-status#quarterlyStatus2\">Quarterly Long-Term Drought Report<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mt-10 mb-4\"><strong>U.S seasonal drought outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov\/\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov\/products\/expert_assessment\/sdohomeweb.png\" class=\"img-fluid\"><\/a>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-4 mb-6\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"wf_page_folders":[],"class_list":["post-39","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uds_featured_image":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Drought - Arizona State Climate Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arizona is currently in a long-term drought that started in 1994. 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