New water year starts with much needed moisture

A full week of wet weather has brought a dramatic change to San Juan County. After closing out the driest year on record when the water year closed on September 30, the first week of the new water year looks very encouraging.
The rains and snow have provided a deep soaking of water for dry land farmers, recharged scores of small reservoirs, started a good snow pack in area mountains, and brought smiles to area residents.
Blanding received 3.13 of precipitation in the first eight days of October, which is approaching the 3.54 inches of precipitation received for the previous year.
Similarly, Monticello received 3.16 inches of precipitation in recent days and Bluff received 1.25 inches. In contrast, Bluff had just 2.08 inches of rain for the entire water year last year.
Nine inches of snow is on the ground at the Camp Jackson Sno-tel station in the Abajo mountains west of Monticello and north of Blanding. Since Oct. 1, Camp Jackson has received five inches of precipitation in the form of rain and snow.
The weather pattern changed when Hurricane Rosa approached from the Gulf of Mexico in late September, bringing along a wet pattern that has continued for the past 10 days. Storms hit across the State of Utah throughout the week after portions of Arizona received record-breaking precipitation.
The weather forecast calls for several more days of wet weather in the coming week.