Still In Long Term Drought

The Salt Lake City International Airport has had 4.19 inches of precipitation so far in May, good for the 6th wettest in Salt Lake since 1874.  Most of the state is well above average for precipitation.

If you are wondering if the drought is over, it isn't.  The U.S. Drought Monitor released this week shows long-term abnormally dry conditions in the northeastern portion of the state to extreme drought in the west desert.

This might seem surprising given how wet it has been, but long-term drought is a 6 month to multiyear phenomenon and considers indicators that include groundwater levels and reservoir storage.  Although it's been really wet the past month, we have considerable ground to make up in these and other areas affected by long-term precipitation deficits.