We’ve received 2.15 inches (5.46 cm) of precipitation since Oct. 1 (the “water year”) at the Heineman-Fleck house in Albuquerque. That’s 44 percent of average for the first 8 months of the water year. (My average is based on data going back to the 1999-2000 water year.)

A sidelight: 1.41 inches of that (3.58 cm) came in a single storm, overnight Dec. 16-17. Aside from that one fluke storm (and a remarkable one it was) we’ve been remarkably dry.