The majority of Yavapai County is now out of drought, although it continues to sustain abnormally dry conditions.
During the past month, drought affected 41,407 people in the county, or 19.6%, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. The year 2022 has been the 42nd driest year to date out of the past 128 years.
The majority of the county is now in a state described as abnormally dry. This classification means that the soil is dry, forage is limited and the risk of fire is elevated.
A small section of the northwest part of the county, or about 19.62% of the whole, continues to experience moderate drought conditions. This causes stress on the plants, unusually brown hillsides and creeks and stock ponds and springs to dry up.
The whole of Arizona was much cooler than usual during November, with most counties receiving below-normal precipitation. 53% of the state experienced abnormally dry conditions.
For July through September, central Yavapai was abnormally dry but was not experiencing long-term drought conditions.
Historically, extreme to exceptional drought conditions occurred in 2018-19, which was the case again in 2021 and from then to the present day, albeit gradually lessening.
In December 2021, Yavapai County received over 150% of its average precipitation level due to severe frontal systems. Maricopa and Gila counties also experienced a similar increase in precipitation.
By contrast, in December 2020, 73% of the state was experiencing exceptional drought and receiving minimal precipitation due to an insufficient summer monsoon.
For more information, visit drought.gov, new.azwater.gov and droughtmonitor.unl.edu.
