How dry is it in the Four Corners? Statistics give the answer.
Snow water equivalent in the San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan basin is sitting at 3 percent of its historic median. Most of the state’s other basins are also at under 10 percent of their historic median snow water equivalents, with only the Arkansas and the Yampa-White Little Snake basins at more. Those are at 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
In Cortez, just seven one-hundredths of an inch of rain fell in May, 8 percent of the normal amount. That’s according to longtime local weather observer James Andrus, who described it as “a horrendous dearth of precipitation.”
And precipitation in Cortez is 70 percent of normal for the year to date.
The conditions are spread across the West. Colorado’s Western Slope and most of Utah and Arizona are in either severe or extreme drought. Colorado Gov Jared Polis declared a statewide drought emergency on June 4.
Last week, the National Interagency Fire Center issued an forecast saying there is above-normal potential for significant fires in June across much of the West, including the Four Corners and Great Basin.
There are still hopes that a developing El Niño weather pattern will bring bountiful monsoons to the area, but that is uncertain.
Meanwhile, the current hot, dry, and windy conditions are concerning enough that Montezuma County emergency manager Jim Spratlen spoke to the county commissioners on Tuesday about the idea of preparing a fire-emergency declaration that can be adopted if necessary. Spratlen said the area is in the extreme-fire-danger zone and will be for the next several days.
“It’s ugly out there,” he said.
The potential benefits of an emergency declaration, Spratlen said, are the availability of additional suppression efforts such as aircraft, helicopters and teams, and better coordination with other agencies.
“It doesn’t guarantee funding,” he said, “but it puts a notch ahead to where we can tell the state we need help.”
The commissioners agreed to put the topic on the agenda for Monday’s workshop.
