Widespread short- and long-term drought conditions .
During a drought briefing of the Intermountain West Tuesday 鈥� that includes the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming 鈥� scientists predicted bleak drought conditions in the foreseeable future.
Curtis Riganti is with the at the University of Nebraska.
鈥淢uch of the Sangre De Cristo mountains and going into the San Juan mountains here in Colorado and Northern New Mexico, we鈥檙e primarily seeing below normal snowpack for this time of year,鈥� Riganti said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e somewhat early in the cold season still, so there could be time for this snowpack to balloon.鈥�
Riganti said drought conditions have expanded again in parts of the Four Corners region, largely as a result of a very dry and warm monsoon season.
Taking a closer look at New Mexico specifically, nearly 97% of the state is in drought 鈥� the highest in the region.
: moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3) and exceptional (D4). Currently, 43% of New Mexico ranges from extreme to exceptional.
In terms of reservoirs, northern New Mexico is also seeing unusually low water levels along with other important reservoirs like Lakes Powell and Mead, which feed the Colorado river.
