Current Status - Drought In Southwest

First - Received following email yesterday from Bill Mortimer, who lives in White Mountains at Pinetop-Lakeside (location shown in map and satellite views from Google, above and below):

Hi Bob,

We are DRY. Temps are mostly above normal. A total of 12" snow v. 40" average. Our Walnut Creek, fed by springs, runs year round. However, this year half the springs are bone dry and the 4-6' wide creek is now only a foot wide. I have an Aspen grove of about 50 trees in our backyard. Over a dozen have died so I have taken to soaking them one by one with the garden hose. Our reservoirs are still full because 100 years ago our water district diverted most the Little Colorado River. It flows north to Colorado. Unfortunately, along the way, cattle and alfalfa growers are in trouble. 


Thanks for your blog update. I too look for T storms in NW Mexico and Pacific Tropical activity. It "always" rains here on July 4th. Fingers crossed and pounding on my Apache drum. 


Regards,


Bill

Below is the current drought status map (issued today by Dept. of Agriculture) for western two-thirds of the country - as per Bill's report, Pinetop-Lakeside is an area experiencing exceptional drought. Extreme drought covers most of Arizona and New Mexico and extends across the Texas Panhandle into western Oklahoma. Drought conditions cover almost all of the Colorado and Rio Grande watersheds. A very grim situation for both Southwest water supplies and dangerous wildfire potentials.