Widespread soaking rains over the past week brought relief to parts of Texas and the Deep South but left large areas still stressed by long-running dryness. The precipitation reduced drought extent across portions of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Tennessee Valley, even as Severe to exceptional drought persists across much of the region. Soil moisture and streamflows remain extremely low in southeastern Alabama, Georgia and northwestern Florida, where impacts have not yet eased.
Rain that moved through central and western Texas also eased conditions in the upper Rio Grande Valley and produced additional drought reductions in Louisiana. However, the beneficial events largely missed the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma, where poor rangeland and winter wheat conditions continue. Drought expanded in parts of Arkansas where recent totals were insufficient to reverse deficits.
Lighter rain and cooler temperatures spread across the Northeast, helping to slow drought development and improving conditions in Maine, while spotty accumulations allowed slight expansion of drought and abnormal dryness across portions of the mid-Atlantic, the Hudson Valley and southeastern New England. Cooler, mostly dry weather across the Plains and Midwest contributed to drought growth on the Plains but was generally welcomed across the upper Midwest and Corn Belt because it let growers Fieldwork advanced after weeks of stormy delays.
Regional impacts
The High Plains saw light-to-moderate totals, with the heaviest (about 0.5 to 1.5 inches) across central Colorado and some late-season mountain snow; that helped trim drought in central Colorado but did not produce broad improvements elsewhere on the Plains. Despite lower evapotranspiration under cooler conditions, portions of Kansas, Nebraska and far western North Dakota registered degradations where precipitation was short of needs. Across the Midwest, northern Minnesota and areas along the southern Indiana–Illinois border showed easing of dryness after earlier wet spells.
Western conditions
In the West, late-season moisture in northern California boosted short-term streamflow and soil moisture but left the Sierra snowpack unusually low for this time of year. Hot, dry weather accelerated impacts in Arizona, producing notable degradation, and short-term dryness expanded abnormal dryness in northwestern Washington. Far western Montana saw some easing where recent precipitation arrived, but most of the West remained seasonably dry.
Forecasts favor continued active weather across the Southeast in the next seven days, with a swath from eastern Texas through southern Alabama expected to receive heavy rainfall and the potential for severe storms; forecasters note 2–7 inches possible along that corridor. Lesser totals are expected across Georgia and Florida, which may limit the scope of drought relief there, while the greatest potential for easing drought across the eastern U.S. lies in the Northeast and the Ohio Valley. Light totals are forecast for the Plains, and another week of dry weather is likely across much of the West, where above-average temperatures could speed snowmelt and produce short-term reservoir boosts.
During the eight- to 14-day period, models favor above-average temperatures for much of the lower 48 with near-normal readings in the Northeast. Above-average precipitation is forecast for the southern tier, with the highest probabilities focused on Texas, eastern New Mexico and Louisiana. The U.S. Drought Monitor product is produced jointly by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Photo - hpj.com
