RANGE MANAGEMENT IN NEW MEXICO. 5 



received 3.44 inches in 1894; Mesilla Park (3,863 feet) received 

 3.49 inches in 1873; Deming (4,333 feet) received 3.42 inches in 

 1910, while the same year Carlsbad (3,120 feet) received only 3.95 

 inches. 



The variation in the amount of precipitation from year to year 

 is also great. An extreme case is shown at Mesilla Park. In a 

 record for this region extending over 47 years, the average rainfall 

 is 8.62 inches. For five of those years the total amount was just 

 about half of the normal supply. Five other years show from one 

 and one-half to nearly two times the average. It will thus be seen 

 that there is a range from the lowest amount recorded, 3.49 inches, 

 to almost five times that amount, 17.09 inches, the highest record. 

 For one period of ten consecutive years the total annual precipita- 

 tion was each year below the average quoted above, and periods of 

 three to five years in which the annual rainfall is two-thirds of the 

 normal or less have occurred three times within the time for which 

 the observations have been made. 



Snow occurs at some time every winter at all points in the State. 

 At the lower levels the occurrence is rare and the quantity that 

 falls is small, nor does it lie long. In the higher mountains of the 

 northern part of the State considerable of the precipitation comes 

 as snow, and in favorable locations it drifts and lies for most of the 

 winter. From such regions stock are excluded for at least part of 

 the year. 



Cloudy weather is the exception, and one bright sunshiny day 

 after another is the rule throughout the State. 



Temperature. — The most characteristic peculiarity of the tem- 

 perature and one which applies at all points in the State is the great 

 range which occurs yearly, monthly, and daily. A daily range 

 of 45° F. is not uncommon, and one of 30° or more may be said 

 to be almost the rule. This condition is, of course, due to the altitude 

 and the lack of moisture in the air. 



The mean temperatures of different localities are exceedingly 

 misleading when one is considering climate in New Mexico, because 

 they are made up of high maximum and low minimum temperatures. 

 This statement applies to all the means, daily, monthly, and annual. 

 The highest recorded temperature for the State is 113° F. at San 

 Marcial. A summer maximum of over 100° F. is common for many 

 of the stations at the lower altitudes. The higher elevations, of course, 

 have lower temperatures. The absolute minimum temperatures 

 recorded for the different stations range from 4° to —29° F., and 

 there is always a winter season of three months or more anywhere 

 in, the State during which one may expect it to freeze any night. 

 This condition would hardly be expected when one considers the 

 latitude alone and is another consequence of high altitude and aridity. 



