Thursday’s .04 inches of rain and hail were a timely gift for local dry land farmers, but were not enough to relieve the dry conditions. Larry Deremo, a wheat and alfalfa farmer from Dove Creek, had one word to describe the current condition of the area’s crops — "sad."

Precipitation has been extremely low for the usually wet months of April and May. Last year at this time, the Yellow Jacket, Cortez, and Dolores areas averaged a little over three inches of recorded precipitation during April and May, while this year averaged a meager half an inch for the period.

In Dolores County, most farmers depend on rain. Out of the 150,000 farmed acres in the county, only 7,600 are irrigated.

"We need rain," said Dan Fernandez, the Colorado State University extension agent for Dolores County.

Fernandez said that some crops in the area were also damaged by a severe frost several weeks ago when temperatures reached a low of 24 degrees for several hours.

The frost caused alfalfa farmers to start their first cut early so that the damaged portions of the crop could regrow for second cuttings.

Other than the frost, irrigated crops should survive the hot, dry weather. John Porter, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District, said that there is enough water in McPhee Reservoir for this year’s irrigation projects, but they are already looking ahead to next year.

As of May 1, forecasters were predicting a 200,000 acre feet water runoff into the reservoir, which is only 71 percent of the 282,000 acre feet it normally gets. According to Porter, the runoff usually starts in late May and early June, but this year it began in late April.

The 1,300 farmers and ranchers who are serviced by the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company get water from Groundhog, Totten, and Narraguinnep reservoirs, which are also at normal capacity.

Pinto bean farmers will start planting in the next few weeks. Kenny Smith, cooperative extension agent with Colorado State University, said that farmers do need the moisture, but last year’s bumper bean crop started out with the same arid weather.