September rain eases Cortez out of extreme drought
A cooperative weather observer logged nearly five inches in Cortez last month — a monsoon total he says he has not seen in 31 years of record-keeping.
A wet September has pulled Cortez out of the most severe drought category it had been sitting in, KSJD reported this week.
Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: KSJD
The station reported that the month’s rainfall moved the town’s drought classification from extreme to severe. James Andrus, a cooperative weather observer in Cortez, measured 4.96 inches of rain for September as of the 30th, and told KSJD it was an extraordinary monsoon total — more than he has recorded in 31 years of keeping the local observations.
Cooperative observers are volunteers who take daily temperature and precipitation readings for the National Weather Service, and their records are the long-run baseline for how a place’s weather compares with its own past.
One good month does not end a drought. Drought ratings weigh soil moisture, streamflow and reservoir storage alongside rainfall, and a severe rating still means dry conditions across the area.
KSJD’s report is at ksjd.org.