PlainHazard

Arizona drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 7 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 633 drought records in Arizona from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 45 a year since 2000. Arizona ranks 32nd of 51 states and territories by count and 42nd of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Arizona, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
6331996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
45average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
–as filed
Busiest year
2011121 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Arizona?

Arizona averages about 45 drought records a year since 2000, 32nd of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2011 (121). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Arizona records 56 drought records since 1996, 42nd of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 42. Arizona 56

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Arizona have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Greenlee County leads Arizona: 77 days with a drought record since 1996, 41.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Pima County has the most drought records (271 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Greenlee County 41.8 (116)
  2. Santa Cruz County 41.3 (94)
  3. Graham County 16.7 (171)
  4. Cochise County 12.6 (250)
  5. Pinal County 12.3 (146)
  6. Pima County 7.7 (271)
  7. Coconino County 0.4 (7)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Arizona?

Arizona's drought records by month. The busiest month is June (75 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 30 · Feb 40 · Mar 54 · Apr 67 · May 70 · Jun 75 · Jul 72 · Aug 54 · Sep 46 · Oct 45 · Nov 42 · Dec 38 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Arizona?

Arizona's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Arizona and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeArizonaUnited StatesArizona's share
1996-9915,6000.0%
2000s618,5710.0%
2010s31331,4411.0%
2020-2631330,1471.0%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Arizona

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-01-01 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone Upper Gila River And Aravaipa Valleys 0 0 –
2025-12-01 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone Upper Gila River And Aravaipa Valleys 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone Upper Gila River And Aravaipa Valleys 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtCochise County · forecast zone Chiricahua Mountains 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtCochise County and 2 more · forecast zone Galiuro And Pinaleno Mountains 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone White Mountains Of Graham And Greenlee Counties 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtPima County and Santa Cruz County · forecast zone Upper Santa Cruz River And Altar Valleys 0 0 –
2025-11-01 DroughtPima County · forecast zone Western Pima County 0 0 –
2025-10-21 DroughtCochise County · forecast zone Chiricahua Mountains 0 0 –
2025-10-14 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone White Mountains Of Graham And Greenlee Counties 0 0 –
2025-10-01 DroughtCochise County and 2 more · forecast zone Galiuro And Pinaleno Mountains 0 0 –
2025-10-01 DroughtGraham County and Greenlee County · forecast zone Upper Gila River And Aravaipa Valleys 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Arizona

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Arizona for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on April 15, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-04-15EM-3038Drought8

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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