Drought and heat persist, but cold weather coming

The Yuma area finally received a good drenching again, Saturday afternoon, receiving about seven-tenths of an inch.
Some reports in the countryside showed even higher amounts of precipitation.
However, overall it still remains extremely dry as the region remains in a severe drought. The August 30 rain pumped up August’s total precipitation in Yuma to 1.71 inches, based on the figures from the CoAgMet weather station located at the Irrigation Research Foundation site.
A total of only 1.39 inches fell in July, and in June it was just 0.52 of an inch.
A series of rains in early May helped that month be the wettest so far this year, with 2.45 inches.
However, April recorded only 0.05 of an inch, and March just 0.36 of an inch.
That is a total of 6.48 inches of precipitation over a six-week period.
Area crops and rangeland continue to struggle in the dry conditions, and as of now there will not be much for farmers to drill into when it soon comes time to plant the winter wheat crop.

Rain dumps in Yuma, last Saturday afternoon, August 29. (Pioneer Photo)

Temperatures finally cooled earlier this week, but August was extremely hot.
Yuma had 10 consecutive days with highs of 90 or above, August 18-27. The month actually started out fairly comfortable with great conditions for the Yuma County Fair, but ended with 18 days with highs at 90 or above.
A report put out earlier this week on The Weather Channel shows that this region actually will into average highs in the 70s in September.
The high on the last day of August, Monday, was just 74, after one final high of 92 on Sunday. The Labor Day weekend is supposed to be hot, including a predicted high of 100 on Sunday.
However, the daytime high on Tuesday is predicted to be in the low 40s, including an overnight temperature below freezing, with a chance of rain and snow showers in the morning. It is supposed to stay cool the rest of the week.