A wet start to the week has improved the overall conditions as June has been somewhat of a rollercoaster month with a wet start followed by a dry and hot period, until last Tuesday’s downpour changed conditions once again. Unfortunately, the boost in moisture was short-lived and we returned to dry conditions for the rest of the week, with a dust storm warning being issued this afternoon for the Albuquerque Metro Area. For the week, this station received 1.01” of precipitation. For June, we finished with 1.87” of precipitation compared to the NOAA normal of 0.68”, which is 275% of normal. For the 2025 WYTD, this station is at 5.86” against the NOAA normal of 8.00”, which is 73% of normal. For the 2025 calendar year to date, we are at 86% of normal. Overall, temperatures averaged 1.0 degrees below average for the last week with the wet weather and cloud cover dominating the first part of the week. Temperatures were as much as 6.7 degrees below normal on Wednesday and 4.8 degrees above normal by Sunday. Forecasts call for wet conditions to continue from this evening through Thursday night, as tropical monsoon moisture continues to get pumped into the state. Conditions dry out Thursday and into Independence Day, but a chance for showers returns Sunday evening continuing into early next week. Short-term and long-term we are now in the mildly dry category, as the above average moisture over the last two months have shifted us into this category, at least temporarily. Long-term drought conditions, however, are still evident in the surrounding environment. Energy usage was up slightly last week as compared to the the previous week, as the warmer temperatures over the weekend caused A/C usage to increase. Air quality was in the good to moderate range last week. The primary pollutant over the past week has been coarse particulate matter and ozone being the main pollutant on Tuesday. Nettle, chenopod, pine, grass, and plantago pollens, were the main irritants over the last week, at low levels. A health alert was issued for a dust this afternoon, due to strong outflow winds from thunderstorms. The winds caused some small branch damage to trees and blew my empty trash bin all the way down to the bottom of our street. Fire danger is still at the high level for all Ranger Districts of the Cibola National Forest, except for the Mountainair Ranger District, which is at the moderate level. Albuquerque open space areas currently are still open and are under stage 2 fire restrictions in the bosque areas. East Mountain Open Space areas are open and are also under stage 2 fire restrictions as well. Their have been several human-caused wildfires that were set and have caused catastrophic damage to homes and forested areas throughout the Middle Rio Grande Valley over the last few weeks. Regarding the the Fourth of July weekend, by City of Albuquerque ordinance, the sale and use of all Aerial Fireworks and Ground Audible Devices within the city limits is prohibited. Most plants and trees continue to do well with supplemental watering but there continue to be signs of heat and drought stress throughout the neighborhood and city with plants and trees having leaves turn brown and dropping them in significant quantities. Bird activity has still been running about average over the last week. Hummingbirds and other pollinators have still been highly active over the last week. The two squirrels have left now that their protective foliage was removed by my neighbor. Rio Grande river flow at the Alameda bridge is at 222 cf/s this evening, which is an all-time low for this day of the year. The flow has been steadily decreasing from a high of 600 cf/s on Wednesday. Turbidity is at 155 FNU today. Turbidity has been extremely high throughout most of the week, only settling down over the last few days. Updated aquifer monitoring data from the last three weeks for the Middle Rio Grande Basin shows an overall decrease in the aquifer level as the warmer and dry conditions have increased water use and pumping from the aquifer, with little recharge. Voluntary weekly watering restrictions began on March 1st and continue through November. Outdoor spray irrigation is prohibited in the City of Albuquerque between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. April 1st through October 31st.