Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Jaeleigh and Kynlee Kia jump in puddles at Portales City Park on Monday, enjoying the region's first significant rainfall since Aug. 16.
Most of eastern New Mexico was soaked Monday night, the first significant moisture for the region since late summer.
Rainfall totals were consistently 1-2 inches and more throughout Curry and Roosevelt counties and into the Texas Panhandle. Areas around Muleshoe recorded 3 inches and more.
For most local communities Monday's downpour was more moisture than has been seen the past seven months combined.
"It's a godsend," said Aaron Scott, farm manager at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Center north of Clovis. "It was beautiful, it smells so good, it settles the dust."
Timing was perfect for farmers who are planting, Scott said.
"Ideally if you get a good soaker like this every 10 days or so, that would be awesome. You have three days for it to dry out so you can go fishing or fix your equipment, then four days to plow and plant. We just need to keep praying for rain ... This afternoon would be great."
Patrick Kircher, Roosevelt County's agriculture agent, said the timing was ideal for farmers across the board.
"We talk about this all the time," he said. "You can get small amounts of rain that add up to an inch or two, but those little bitty rains don't have enough power to help much. We need one of the soaking rains like we got (Monday) night.
"Our dryland farmers, they have no moisture and I don't think it was enough to do anything for them, but it gives them optimism. The irrigation guys have to have help from above; they're struggling to have enough moisture to plant on. This ought to give them enough moisture to get things going."
NMSU's ag center recorded more moisture on Monday -- .93 of an inch – than on any day since Aug. 16, when 1.15 inches of rain fell.
The ag center recorded just 1.05 inches of moisture over 234 days, from Oct. 1 through Sunday.
Rain chances for the rest of the week appear slim. The National Weather Service forecast temperatures to rise from the mid-70s today to the upper 90s by the weekend with little chance of precipitation until Tuesday or next Wednesday.
