Cortez has hit the jackpot for two months in a row in terms of much-needed precipitation. Longtime local weather observer James Andrus says Cortez saw 142 percent of normal precipitation in May, and June has already had more than the usual amount.
As of Thursday afternoon, almost half an inch of rain had fallen on Cortez in June, while the normal amount is only 0.34 of an inch for the entire month.
Andrus told KSJD, “I call this a casino climate. Every month we pull the slot lever.”
The rains are not yet enough to lift the area out of drought. Year-to-date precipitation stood at just 78 percent of normal as of the end of May. Montezuma County and the immediate Four Corners area are considered to be in moderate to severe drought, while southern Arizona and southern New Mexico are in extreme to exceptional drought.
During a June 3 National Integrated Drought Information System webinar, experts said June’s early rains do not represent the start of the monsoon season. Andrus agreed, saying these rains are just “an episode.”
Warmer-than-normal conditions are expected in the Southwest throughout the summer, which can increase fire danger and the likelihood of lingering drought. However, the monsoons will offer the potential for relief when they arrive.
Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.