A much-needed rain swept across New Mexico on Monday after a stretch of one of the driest monsoon seasons, turning parched landscapes into muddy playgrounds and offering a welcome reprieve from the relentless heat.
Five-and-a-half-year-old Olivia Johnston said the downpour was less about drought relief and more about one thing: puddles. “I splashed and got all my pants wet, and then I put my belly in a puddle,” Olivia said.
Her family, however, saw something far more important in the rain.
“It’s replenishing our earth and our valley here,” her father, Mark Johnston, said. “And our river,” her mother, Whitney Johnston, added.
The rain arrived after a hot, unusually dry growing season that left farms across the state and their crops struggling.
New Mexico farmers every drop matters. Jimmy Wagner, whose chile plants are still growing, said the crop is running behind where it should be at this point in the harvest. “They said we’re going to have a wet summer, and it didn’t get here,” Wagner said. “So I’m hoping for the winter, we get a lot of snowpack.”
Even drip irrigation kept plants barely alive, Wagner said. “Just trying to just keep water to those plants because, I mean, trouble just surviving with the heat,” he said.
The recent rain could give the struggling plants one last chance, with some smaller chiles remaining on the plants and could still develop if enough moisture arrives. Wagner said that could potentially stretch the growing season into October.
But without additional water, some of the crop may never survive, and the season could end sooner than hoped for.
It remains a question whether Monday’s rain is simply a welcome interruption or the beginning of a wetter pattern.
Forecasters are also looking toward winter and the potential influence of El Niño, which could bring more rainfall to New Mexico.
KOAT meteorologist Eric Green said the general expectation is for above-average rainfall during the winter season. “The general expectation is that this will result in above-average precipitation into and through the winter season,” Green said.
However, the El Niño signal is not particularly strong for New Mexico. Green said the effects could be more pronounced in Texas and Arizona, while New Mexico may see a more modest boost.
