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Southwest Drought Briefing: November 23, 2021

Event Date
November 23, 2021
Event Time
1:00 pm - 1:35 pm
Timezone
MST
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The most recent United States Drought Monitor indicates that nearly all of the Southwest is experiencing some level of drought, but summer and early fall precipitation has improved conditions. This short drought briefing focused on winter drought conditions and forecasts for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. This month's presentation was by Dr. Erin Saffell, from Arizona State University and the Arizona State Climatologist. 

For more information, please contact Joel Lisonbee (joel.lisonbee@noaa.gov).

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0:00

Welcome to the Southwest Drought Update

Speaker: Joel Lisonbee | NOAA/National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

  • Welcome to the November Southwest Drought Briefing. These half-hour webinars will be held monthly for as long as this region is experiencing extreme and exceptional drought conditions.
  • Learn more about the Southwest Drought Learning Network.
  • Introduction of the speaker:
    • Dr. Erinanne Saffell, Arizona State Climatologist and Director of the Arizona State Climate Office at Arizona State University 

 

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5:13

Drought & Climate Update

Dr. Erinanne Saffell | Arizona State Climatologist and Director of the Arizona State Climate office at Arizona State University

  • An exceptional monsoon followed an exceptional drought in 2021 in Arizona, but it was not enough to eliminate drought.
  • In Water Year 2021, there was exceptionally low snowpack across the Colorado River Basin.
  • Most water years since 1995 have had below-average precipitation for Arizona.
  • Nearly 40% of water in Arizona comes from groundwater, and another 40% comes from the Colorado River.
  • To attend the Arizona Drought Monitoring Workshop on December 2, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. MST, please register here.

 

Timestamp
21:37

Question & Answer

Speaker: Skye Aney | USDA Southwest Climate Hub

 

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