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U.S. Department of Commerce logo and link to site Climate of 2002 - June
Southwest Region Drought

National Climatic Data Center, 15 July 2002

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June marked the tenth consecutive month with below-normal precipitation averaged across the Southwest Region. The rank for June 2002 was eighth driest June in the 108-year record, but the persistent dryness has brought the rank to driest on record for each season from April-June back to July-June (see table below). The regionwide long-term conditions, as measured by the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index, are comparable in magnitude (but not duration) to the worst drought episodes of the 20th Century.

Precipitation Ranks for the
Southwest Region , 2001-2002
Period Rank
Jun 8th driest
May-Jun 3rd driest
Apr-Jun 1st driest
Mar-Jun 1st driest
Feb-Jun 1st driest
Jan-Jun 1st driest
Dec-Jun 1st driest
Nov-Jun 1st driest
Oct-Jun 1st driest
Sep-Jun 1st driest
Aug-Jun 1st driest
Jul-Jun 1st driest
 Southwest Region precipitation departures, January 1998 - present
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Southwest Region Palmer Z Index, January 1998 - present
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Southwest Region precipitation, September-June 1895-2002
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Southwest Region Palmer Hydrological Drought Index, January 1900 - June 2002
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Graphic showing NOAA logo NCDC / Clim. Monitoring / Climate-2002 / Jun / U.S. Regional Drought / Search / Help

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Last Updated Monday, 18-Jul-2005 10:44:34 EDT by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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