Areas of moderate precipitation, with isolated heavy amounts, affected the Sierra Nevada, southwestern California, western Washington, and some of the higher elevations across Arizona, Utah, eastern Nevada, and southern Idaho. Most of the large West Region, however, recorded several tenths of an inch or less. Similar to the situation across central and western Texas, dryness and drought may be intensifying at a fairly quick clip across New Mexico, and a large part of the state deteriorated by one category this week. That includes a larger area of D3 along the southern tier of the state, with a small area of D4 introduced in the state’s southwestern interior. Farther west, no intensification was noted this week, but a broad area of D3 and D4 persists across southern California, southern Nevada, and much of Arizona. From central sections of Utah and Nevada southward to the Mexican border and southwestward through southern California, less than half of normal precipitation has fallen since mid-December. The lowest totals (just 2 to 25 percent of normal) extend across the southern Four Corners area. Conditions are considerably better north of Utah and central Nevada, with D3 restricted to a small part of western Montana, and more than half of the area free from dryness and drought.

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