Arizona, 2025Drought in Arizona, May 1 to 31, 2025
May 1 to 31, 2025 · NWS TWC · 10 events in 10 counties and zones
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in northeastern sections, western sections and eastern sections of Southeastern Arizona. The total area from much of Pima County into Graham and Greenlee counties and portions of Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 10
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in northeastern sections, western sections and eastern sections of Southeastern Arizona. The total area from much of Pima County into Graham and Greenlee counties and portions of Santa Cruz and Cochise counties. The overall precipitation for Arizona ranking was 38th for the month of May, but was dryer in Southeast Arizona. Soil moisture readings was between below the 1st percentile to 5th percentile ranking for the area.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 12:32 PM MST, 11 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 12:32 PM MST, 11 hours 28 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
1232 PM MST Wed Apr 30 2025
.SYNOPSIS...
Warming trend is on track with windy conditions and fire weather
concerns later this weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
.Key Messages...
*Temperatures:
-Beginning today, temperatures will start to rise to at or above
normal levels for the forecast period. Expect highs in and around
Tucson to approach 90 deg the next several days.
*Winds and Fire Weather
-While it's early, we decided to pull the trigger on a Fire Weather
Watch for this coming Sunday.
-Sustained winds will be from 25-30 mph with occasional gusts AOA
45 mph.
-RH values wil be at critical levels.
-With persistent dry conditions and fuels ready to go, in concert
with several fire starts the past few days, felt it was best to
start advertising this sooner rather than later.
&&
.AVIATION...
Westerly winds this afternoon with speeds of 8-12 kts and gusts
20 kts at all terminals. After 01/02Z, SFC winds will slowly
diminish to less than 10 kts. Aviation discussion not updated for
TAF amendments.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Winds through Friday will generally be 10-15 mph with occasional
afternoon gusts. Temperatures will continue to warm to at or above
normal Thursday into Saturday. Friday and Saturday afternoons
there will be a 20-30 percent chance for dry lightning in the
White Mountains as a weak weather system moves through. This
weekend a stronger storm system will move in from the Pacific
leading to windy conditions with increasing potential for fire
weather concerns. At this time, the strongest winds look to be
Sunday when the greatest potential to see widespread critical fire
weather conditions is expected. Thus, issued a Fire Weather Watch
for Sunday to err on the side of caution to start ramping up the
messaging for this coming weekend for planning purposes in light
of several fire starts the past few days.
&&
.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Fire Weather Watch from Sunday morning through Sunday evening
for AZZ151>153.
&&
Public...Singer
Aviation...Singer
Fire Weather....Singer
Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
Drought, Western Pima County
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Western Pima County forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in western sections of southeast Arizona during May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Pima county ranked the 55th wettest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued to range in the 1st through 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Tohono O Odham Nation
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Tohono O Odham Nation forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.501, -111.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in central Pima County in the Tohono O'odham Nation during May. For the month of May, Pima county ranked the 55th wettest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued to range between the 1st through 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 31.812, -111.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in Santa Cruz County during May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Santa Cruz county ranked the 1st driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued below the 1st percentile for the month of April.
Drought, Tucson Metro Area
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Tucson Metro Area forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in eastern Pima County during May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Pima county ranked the 55th wettest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued to range in the 1st through 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Southeast Pinal County
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Southeast Pinal County forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.904, -111.345 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in southeastern Pinal County during May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Pinal county ranked the 50th wettest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued to range in the 1st through 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Upper San Pedro River Valley
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Upper San Pedro River Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.109, -110.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in the Upper San Pedro Valley in May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Cochise county ranked the 20th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued below the 1st percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 33.074, -109.563 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in Graham county in May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Graham county ranked the 57th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to between the 1st and 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 33.074, -109.563 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in Graham and Greenlee counties in May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Graham county ranked the 57th driest for the period of record and Greenlee county ranked the 50th direst for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to between the 1st and 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.572, -110.328 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in Graham county in May. The drought area remained the same. For the month of May, Graham county ranked the 57th driest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings increased to between the 1st and 5th percentile for the month of May.
Drought, Baboquivari Mountains
- When
- May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Baboquivari Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The extreme (D3) drought category continued in central Pima County in the Tohono O'odham Nation during May. For the month of May, Pima county ranked the 55th wettest for the period of record. Soil moisture readings continued to range between the 1st through 5th percentile for the month of May.
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Puerto Rico, May 1 to 5, 20251 death · 1 injured · $523,000 · 79 events
- Tornado and Hail in Alabama, May 1 to 3, 20251 death · 2 injured · $7,000 · EF0 · 40 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 1 to 3, 2025$384,000 · 2 in hail · 77 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, May 1, 20251 injured · $100,000 · EF1 · 15 events
- Wildfire in Pennsylvania, May 1 to 2, 2025$800,000 · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 1 to 5, 2025$55,000 · 1.25 in hail · 55 events
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, May 1 to 2, 2025$175,000 · EF0 · 26 events
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 1 to 2, 2025$70,000 · 4.5 in hail · 34 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 1 to 2, 2025$101,000 · 1.5 in hail · 16 events
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, May 1, 2025$82,000 · 61 kt wind · 11 events
- Flooding in Oklahoma, May 1 to 5, 2025$100,000 · 4 events
- Drought in New Mexico, May 1 to 31, 202528 events
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1261941, 1261946, 1261947, 1261951, 1261953, 1261956, 1261959, 1261961, 1261962, 1261963.