| That’s right — the drought
is still on. Last year’s rainy winter may have whetted our hopes
for reversing the dry conditions that have plagued Arizona in recent
years; however, this wet trend didn’t last through the fall.
In fact, post-monsoon conditions were extremely dissapointing, with
less than an inch of rain falling in Tucson between August 2005 and
January 2006.
Data from our Tucson
office weather station shows below-average rainfall for 2005
— that is, 9.64 inches in contrast to the “normal”
12.17 inches. Annual rainfall amounts are compared on the basis
of a 30-year average. Against this expected value, Tucson came up
short about 2.5 inches, or about 21 percent. During the first half
of 2005, rainfall totals were above average. A moderate monsoon
season brought us about 4.5 inches of rain before the wet trend
began its reversal. The remainder of 2005 suffered a near lack of
precipitation that caused annual totals to dip below the 30-year
average. And so the drought continues…
Will conditions improve in 2006? So far (as of early January),
rainfall has been nil. Like an overdrawn bank account, our current
water situation is characterized by rainfall deficits that carry
over from year to year. Even if 2006 breaks all records, we’ll
need many more years of surplus rain to loosen the grip of our drought.
Click
here to view a chart comparing 2005 rainfall at our Tucson office
weather station with average rainfall (PDF file; 34KB).
For further information, please call (520)881-4912 or visit us
at www.elmontgomery.com
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