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Showing 2 Records. |
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| 7/22/2025 | NM-BR-316 | NM | Bernalillo |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
Energy
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Society & Public Health
Water Supply & Quality
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| The last week was an average one for July as the temperatures were around the normals for this time of year and we continued to get at least some precipitation from the influx of monsoon moisture. The rainfall amounts have been much lower that. The heavier rains that we received earlier in the month and have not provided sufficient water to keep plants and trees healthy without supplemental watering. During periods without any cloud cover, the soil gets baked and dries out quickly. At this station, we have felt the brunt of a lot of outflow winds from nearby thunderstorms that have exasperated the drying effect and provided no moisture on a few days. For the week, we received 0.19” of precipitation. For July, we have received 2.43” compared to the NOAA normal of 1.73”, which is 140% of normal. For the 2025 WYTD, this station is at 8.29” against the NOAA normal of 9.73”, which is 85% of normal. For the 2025 calendar year to date, we are at 100% of normal. Overall, temperatures averaged 1.5 degrees above average for the last week. Temperatures were as much as 0.6 degrees below normal on Monday and 3.0 degrees above normal by Wednesday. Forecasts call for a strong chance of thunderstorms continuing through Wednesday and then tapering off to a slight chance through the rest of the week with a return of warmer temperatures continuing into the weekend. Short-term and long-term we are still in the near normal category, as the above average moisture over the last two to three months, have lifted us back to normal for the year but the lower moisture amounts over the last couple of weeks are starting to see us shift backwards again. Long-term drought impacts, however, are still evident in the surrounding environment. Energy usage was up slightly last week as compared to the the previous week, as a few warmer days without clod cover and/or precipitation caused A/C usage to increase. Air quality was in the good to moderate range last week. An air quality alert was issued for ozone on Wednesday fueled by an influx of wildfire smoke. The primary pollutants over the past week have been ozone, and fine and course particulate matter. Grass, birch, plantago, urticaceae, pine, and chenopod pollens, were the main irritants over the last week, all at low levels. Fire danger is still at the high level for all Ranger Districts of the Cibola National Forest, except for the Mountainair Ranger District, which is at the moderate level. Albuquerque open space areas currently are still open and are under stage 2 fire restrictions in the bosque areas. East Mountain Open Space areas are open and are also under stage 2 fire restrictions as well. Most plants and trees continue to do well from the moisture they have received but do require supplemental watering. Bird activity has dropped off some over the last two weeks in line with the drop in moisture. Hummingbirds, bees, and moths are still highly active over the last week. Insect activity is still highly active with the continued shower activity. Several neighbors have had issues with ant colonies over the last couple of weeks. Rio Grande river flow at the Alameda bridge is at 103 cf/s this evening, which is much below normal for this day of the year. The flow has been as low as 100 cf/s and as high as 115 cf/s over the last week. Turbidity is at 22 FNU today. Turbidity has been increasing over the last three days and has had a few spikes due to storm runoff. The Rio Grande River through Albuquerque has gone dry this week and will remain so through the rest of the summer. This is due to lower-than-average snowpack totals over the winter and construction problems/delays on the Abiquiu Dam rebuild. The lack of expected water releases will once again affect everyone that relies on Rio Chama and Rio Grande water releases. Updated aquifer monitoring data for the Middle Rio Grande Basin was unavailable for the last week. Voluntary weekly watering restrictions began on March 1st and continue through November. Outdoor spray irrigation is prohibited in the City of Albuquerque between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. April 1st through October 31st.
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| 7/22/2025 | OR-KL-28 | OR | Klamath |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
Energy
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
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| [Two weeks Mon 7/7/25 – Sun 7/20/25, rural Central Oregon High Desert.]
Only 1 precipitation event this 2-week period: 0.18” over about 2 ½ hours with rain and a few minutes of small hail during thunderstorms the afternoon of Tue 7/8. NWS had predicted a Red Flag Warning with a threat of dry lightning. The storm(s) moved north and northeast from late afternoon into evening spawning up to 2 dozen mostly small wildfires reported over the next several days - 15 of which were reported the next day. Most were stopped at under an acre within a day while 4 became significant. One of the 4 was the Cram fire in Jefferson County (approx 100 NE of this station) which became the largest wildfire in the U.S., reaching 95,769 acres before crews were able to stop the progress by the Sun 7/20. This station experienced some high elevation haze and/or light smoke from the major wildfires for only 3 days following the 3 -day NWS Heat Advisory 7/12 - 7/14. || Similar to the past several years at this station, daytime high temps ranged from 81-100°F and averaged 90°F for the period, with lows ranging from 45-48°F and averaging 38°F. But I remember years farther back in which overnight freezing occurred at least a couple times a week if not more, and daytime highs were closer to mid 80’s. the || This period, I observed the first honey bees of this season as well as several more bumblebees than the previous period (and years) on the wild lupines growing in the open area of the garden. There are noticeably less flea beetles and grasshoppers/locusts attacking the veg garden this year, although there seem to be more types of the latter (or maybe I am becoming more observant?). There are now 2 quail families frequenting the back yard. water has been set out for mule deer, birds and wild rodents (a distance from the home. || Using 2 air cond units for the last 2 weeks on a daily basis, along with passive cooling after sunset thru early morning except during one night of smoke. Well water temp is still amazingly cold from the tap. Generally, the undeveloped ground is dry and dusty, and areas that are watered (or rained on) do not hold it the moisture for more than a few hours. The native grasses are still green, but much of the other wild ground cover has become desiccated.
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Showing 2 Records. |
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