Arizona Drought Update: January 16, 2025

Rainfall across Arizona has been sparse over the past few months. Phoenix Sky Harbor has not seen measurable rain since August 22, 2024, Tucson International Airport has not seen rain since November 3, and Flagstaff has only picked up 3.44 inches of rain since October 1, which is 2.82" below average. Needless to say, it has been dry!

Currently, just over 14% of the state is in extreme drought, up from 5.75% at this same time last year. The numbers are the worst across the western portion of the state, where rainfall has been absent for some time. To highlight this, let's look at rainfall in Yuma: from May 1, 2024, to the present, they have measured just 0.01 inches of rain!

Long-term patterns are not signaling much in the way of rain, so drought conditions are likely to persist and possibly worsen in the coming weeks and months.