Click here to go to the US Drought Monitor website. Here’s an excerpt:
Summary
Mild weather once again dominated the majority of the U.S. this past week. Temperatures of at least 10 degrees warmer than normal dominated much of the Plains, Midwest, and Mid-South. Near to slightly below-normal temperatures were confined to New England and south Florida. The drought-stricken areas of the Southeast, southern California, the Intermountain West, and the northwestern Plains received little, if any, precipitation resulting in the persistence or deterioration of drought conditions in these areas. Meanwhile, the coastal Northwest, the south-central U.S., parts of the Midwest, and New England saw rainfall with the passage of a cold front through those areas…
The Plains
Most of last week’s rain stayed to the east of the regions’ drought-inflicted areas. Temperatures ranging from 8 to 16 degrees above normal caused continued drying in these regions and resulted in an expansion of moderate drought (D1) over southwest Kansas and abnormally dry (D0) conditions across north central South Dakota and south-central North Dakota…
The West
Changes in the West this week were mixed. Abnormal dryness (D0) expanded westward in the Upper Colorado River Basin over western Colorado, eastern Utah, and south-central Wyoming in response to warmer-than-normal temperatures and short-term precipitation deficits. Colorado also saw a south and southwestward expansion of moderate drought (D1) due to the continued dryness in the region and impacts on soil moisture and vegetation. A re-examination of data due to rains over the last 30 days resulted in a trimming of moderate (D1) and severe (D2) drought over northeast California and northwest Nevada. These rains have been enough to improve long-term rainfall deficits, streamflow, and soil moisture. Likewise, a one category improvement was made in drought conditions over western Wyoming.
Looking Ahead
The National Weather Service medium range forecast calls for continued warmth and dryness over much of the interior U.S. The highest temperature anomalies are expected over the western and central states while East Coast temperatures are forecast to return to more seasonable values. The highest probabilities for precipitation once again is in the Northwest. Forecast models also indicate a possibility for rain along parts of the Gulf and East Coast.