Water Surges Into Navajo Reservoir
One effect of the heavy rains detected by satellites was the rapid rise of water levels in Navajo Reservoir.
Key points
- Due to snow drought across the West in winter 2025-26, the lake saw relatively little growth in the spring, when snowmelt often raises water levels.
- Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (2026, October 28) CW3E Event Summary: 21-23 October 2026.
- From early September through early November, precipitation totals were 2 to 4 times the average throughout the Four Corners region—an area beset by long-term drought that was exacerbated by snow drought and high temperatures in 2026.
(Note that the Bureau of Reclamation decreased releases from Navajo Dam on September 16 and 17.) On November 7, the reservoir stood at its highest level since August 2019 and at 108 percent of the average capacity for that date.
Officials issued evacuation orders, and responders rescued dozens of people, according to news reports, while water inundated streets and damaged property.
Additional details
- Downloads September 20, 2026 JPEG (5.39 MB) November 7, 2026 JPEG (5.48 MB) References & Resources AP News (2026, November 3) Rain clears but flood risk remains high after destructive storms swamp normally arid US Southwest.
- Experts noted that the low-pressure system delivering the heavy rainfall in autumn 2026 was at a low latitude for the time of year and drew energy from unusually high ocean temperatures.
- Drought Monitor maps, derived from a suite of satellite data products and ground-based observations, have indicated improvements to drought conditions due to the fall storms.
- The storms alleviated short-term drought conditions in the Southwest but caused river levels to spike to record or near-record levels in places, triggering damaging floods.
- Wet weather in the Southwest is often associated with El Niño events, when the segment of the jet stream flowing eastward near the equatorial Pacific tends to strengthen.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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