Click here to go to the US Drought Monitor website. Here’s an excerpt:
Summary
During this U.S. Drought Monitor week, storms continued to impact the west, including parts of California, bringing more heavy precipitation to much of the region, as snow packs continued to increase and reservoirs continued to fill. Fortunately a respite from the storms came toward the latter half of the week. On the other side of the country, a strong low pressure system impacted much of the eastern United States, bringing heavy snowfall to central and northern New England on the 9th. Another nor’easter impacted the area on the 12th-13th. Meanwhile, an upper-level low over northern Mexico, along with a surface frontal boundary, resulted in rain and mountain snow from Arizona to western Texas. Precipitation spread across Texas to Oklahoma on the 12th-13th. Not all regions received rainfall. Much of the southeast continued to receive below-normal precipitation while record high temperatures spread across the south during the 11th-12th…
The Plains
Snowpack around 60 percent of normal as of early February led to the introduction of abnormally dry conditions (D0) in part of central Montana from northern Meager to south and central Fergus counties. In eastern Colorado, moderate drought conditions (D1) were extended to northwest Yuma County, northern Washington County, and southeast Logan County. This area has received below 50 percent of normal precipitation since the beginning of October, and recent weather has been hot and windy. The winter wheat also appears to be in poor condition. Additionally, abnormally dry (D0) conditions were expanded to the northern border of Colorado in Weld County…
The West
Storms continued to drop heavy precipitation over parts of California, leading to widespread improvements of the multi-year drought in the state, although some pockets have missed out on the precipitation and water restrictions remain due to low reservoir levels. A few large–scale improvements were made in central and southern California. Drought conditions improved in Monterey and eastern Santa Clara Counties. Western Monterey and most of Santa Clara County are now drought free. Improvements were also made across the San Joaquin Valley, with snowpack well above 100% in the Sierras. Reservoirs are being replenished across most regions. At the foot of the Sequoia National Forest, Lake Isabella’s water level increased 20 percent. Further south, drought conditions broadly improved across San Bernardino and southern Inyo counties. However, Death Valley remains in moderate drought (D1) as the area has received just 35% of its normal precipitation for the water year to-date…
Looking Ahead
The NWS WPC 7-Day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) calls for much more heavy precipitation to impact the west, from Washington all the way to southern California, with an area in northwestern Washington forecast to receive as much as 10.8 inches of precipitation. Overall wide swaths are expected to receive well over two inches of rainfall. Rainfall may also impact southern Texas. Moving eastward, much of the southeast is forecast to see a quarter to a little over an inch of rain over the seven-day period. Once again, central and northern New England may see heavy moisture during the week, with the heaviest amounts projected over northern New Hampshire. The CPC 6–10 day outlooks call for a high probability of above-normal temperatures across the eastern two-thirds of the United States, and below-normal temperatures forecast to prevail in the west. Below-normal precipitation is forecast for a swath in the southwest covering Arizona, New Mexico, and central to western Texas while above-normal precipitation is expected most everywhere else in the contiguous U.S. Northern Alaska is also expected to receive above average precipitation and below-average temperatures during the period, while the southern tier is forecast to be warmer than average.