Southwest storms provide rare boost to regional reservoirs
Rare storms bring significant water to Southwest reservoirs, including a 20-foot rise at Lake Powell, though drought concerns persist.
Extreme Weather Flooding Reservoirs (Photo via PBS NewsHour)
Recent storms in late October and early November 2026 caused widespread flooding across the U.S. Southwest, forcing evacuations as creeks overflowed their banks. While the weather events caused significant damage to local communities, they also provided a rare influx of water to reservoirs that had been depleted by a yearslong megadrought.
Lake Powell, which had reached record lows in mid-September, has risen more than 20 feet as a result of the runoff. Despite this increase, the reservoir remained just over a quarter full as of Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, with 15 of its 17 boat launches currently unusable.
Martin Hoerling, a climate scientist and hydrologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, described the reservoir gains as an unexpected boost from nature. Estimates suggest that the total accumulation from the storms and additional rain could exceed 1.2 million acre-feet of water.
The recent flooding has been attributed to the El Niño climate phenomenon, which intensified rainfall across the region. Experts expect the influence of El Niño to persist for several more months, though decisions regarding water conservation along the Colorado River will remain unchanged until officials can assess the winter snowpack.