People do live in New Mexico, though we have a saying: one of our fifty is missing - because the rest of the US does not know we exist. Neither did this past weather phenomenon. From what I can gather from your cat analogy (really?) and way too scientific briefing (oxymoron) and what of my biggest dislikes of Science (Too technical and lack of brief explanation) , is that the SST WAS NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR FORECAST and therefore we had a wacky time with more moisture in the air that dumped California and headed away from the south instead of heading towards the south. I gather as the sea temps keep rising are we stuck in an El niño pattern? And that leaves Arizona, esp NM and parts of West Texas without any rain. We then hope and pray for summer monsoon. Which brings lightening strikes,It’s all convoluted but I would live a straight answer why NM especially had the driest El Niño on record.