Lack of rainfall and above-average temperatures are prolonging the drought conditions that have stressed crops and rangelands and placed new pressures on groundwater sources across the U.S. Southern Plains.
New Mexico State Climatologist Dave Dubois said Monday that while some areas of the Texas Panhandle and southwestern Oklahoma have received plentiful precipitation in recent days, other parts of those states plus New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas have experienced only spotty precipitation since October.
Climatologists and forecasters say drought conditions across much of the Southwest rival those during the disastrous Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
Oklahoma State Climatologist Gary McManus says some climatological stations in the western part of his state have recorded less than 2 inches of rain since October, the driest months on record for those locations.