CIBOLA COUNTY Experiencing its 56th wettest February on record, the drought situation in Cibola has stayed roughly the same throughout the county since January, but more livestock are affected by bad drought than in the last month.
Drought Across Cibola in December
The U.S. Drought Monitor classifies the severity of drought using five categories, ranging from the least severe designation, 'Abnormally Dry' (D0), to the most severe, 'Exceptional Drought' (D4).
• Abnormally Dry (D0) - 44.1 percent of Cibola is affected, a large swath of and from the northwest that cuts to the southeast, expanding from east of Fence Lake to through the Pueblo of Laguna to the east. This is the same as January when 44.1 percent of the county was affected, and less than December when 43.73 percent was affected.
• Moderate Drought (D1) – 55.41 percent of Cibola is affected. This is higher than January when 50.22 percent of the county, and December where 45.62 percent of the county was affected.
• Severe Drought (D2) – 0.49 percent of the county is affected. This is significantly lower than January when 5.68 percent of the county was affected, and December when 10.65 percent of the county was affected by D2 drought.
• Extreme Drought (D3) - No areas recorded. This was the same in January and December.
• Exceptional Drought (D4) - No areas recorded. This was the same in January and December.
Through January, 250 acres of hay were found to be in drought, along with 30 acres of haylage. This is largely more than January and December, when 250 and 252 acres of hay respectively were in drought. That is also significantly more than January and February when 17 acres of haylage were in drought.
Effecting livestock, 10,281 cattle and 3,026 sheep were found to be in drought through February. This is largely more livestock than in January when 5,747 cattle and 1,692 sheep were impacted; it is higher than December, when 5,785 cattle were in drought, and 1,703 sheep were in drought. This data shows worsening conditions for livestock.
Through February, Cibola drought coverage by area stayed the same as January, with 55.9 percent of its total area affected.
Through January, 55.9 percent of Cibola’s total area was in drought; in December, 55.62 percent of Cibola’s area was in drought.
Fall in Severe Drought
Through January, 5.86 percent of Cibola was in severe drought.
The affected area was a large chunk of the Zuni Pueblo area, but when February’s data was released, this area was no longer affected by D2 brought. Despite a large chunk of land being removed from the designation, the number of livestock in Cibola County that are under drought had increased significantly.
The Cibola Citizen has reached out to both the Northern Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the US Department of Agriculture for more information but did not hear back by press time.
Despite the fall in drought designation, Cibola County Fire Marshall Dustin Middleton said that the drought is still a major concern for the area and the threat of fires is still significant. Most fire departments in Cibola are operated by volunteer firefighters who are always looking for community support. Clearing bushes, trimming lawns, cleaning dead leaves and removing tumbleweeds will help to keep fire danger low around residential homes.
Drought Data
The National Integrated Drought Information System is a tool used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; a department of the United States known by many as the team who tracks Santa Claus during the Christmas holiday. NIDIS has been tracking drought in the Cibola area since 2006, and they use other historic data and environmental sampling to get a drought reading on years prior, all the way up to 1894 – that’s 300 years of data.
Much of the data Cibola Citizen utilizes comes from NIDIS, but also NOAA and the US Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service. These entities supply data for Cibola’s acreage of hay and number of livestock.