Click on a thumbnail graphic to view a gallery of drought data from the US Drought Monitor website.
Click the link to go to the US Drought Monitor website. Here’s an excerpt:
This Week’s Drought Summary
This week continued with another active weather pattern over portions of the Pacific Northwest as well as into the central Plains and Midwest. With widespread heavy rain from Kansas into Wisconsin as well as portions of the lower Mississippi River valley, some areas recorded significant precipitation during the period. Temperatures over the eastern half of the country were above normal, some significantly, while most of the West was cooler than normal. A continued wet pattern over the Pacific Northwest as well as portions of the Midwest has allowed for continued improvement to drought intensities, especially in areas that are receiving abundant precipitation. Dryness continues to build over eastern portions of the Midwest and into the Southeast as well as along the Gulf Coast…
Much of the High Plains remained dry this week with only portions of southeast Nebraska and eastern Kansas recording above-normal precipitation. Temperatures were mostly above normal for the area, but western portions were normal to slightly below this week, with the warmest temperatures over eastern Kansas where departures were 6-9 degrees above normal. With the continued dryness, most of the changes were worsening drought intensities. As the autumn remained dry over much of Nebraska, expansions were made to extreme and exceptional drought in the northeast and western parts of the state. Western Kansas, eastern Colorado and eastern Wyoming also had expansions of severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions. Much of eastern and central Kansas saw improvement from several inches of rain, which lead to the reduction of all drought intensities (including the extreme and exceptional areas in the southern portion of the state) and the removal of extreme drought in the northeast…
A wet week for much of the West helped to put a boost into the start of the current water year after a slow start. Continued wetness over the Pacific Northwest and into portions of the northern Rocky Mountains helped with long-term drought issues. Temperatures were cooler than normal for most of the region with some areas of Oregon and California 8-10 degrees below normal for the week. Improvements were made this week along the coastal regions of Oregon, Washington and northern California where moderate and severe drought were reduced. Areas of western Montana and northern Idaho also had drought intensities reduced with the recent wet pattern. Portions of western Wyoming saw expansion of moderate and severe drought while severe drought was improved in portions of western Colorado and northeast Utah…
Temperatures over the region were well above normal, with departures of 6-9 degrees above normal during the week. Only areas of the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma were near normal. The wettest areas of the region were in eastern Oklahoma, northeast and south Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, where some areas recorded over 200% of normal rain this week. Much of central and west Texas and central Oklahoma missed out on any rains this week. A full category improvement to the drought intensities was made over much of Arkansas, western Louisiana, and eastern Texas. Severe drought was expanded over portions of southern Louisiana where much of the recent rain has missed. Drought intensities were expanded slightly in northeast Oklahoma and central portions of Texas due to a mixture of short- and long-term drought issues…
Looking Ahead
Over the next 5-7 days, it is anticipated that the impact of tropical storm Nicole over the east coast will be significant, bringing a great deal of precipitation from Florida to Maine during the next several days. A winter storm is impacting the northern Plains into the upper Midwest, bringing with it some significant snow while a frontal passage over the Plains will allow for some precipitation from Nebraska south into the lower Mississippi valley. Temperatures during this period look to be well below normal, with portions of the northern Plains 20-24 degrees below normal during this time. Warmer-than-normal temperatures will impact the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, with temperatures 6-9 degrees above normal.
The 6–10 day outlooks show that temperatures are expected to be well below normal over most of the country, with areas of the Plains having the highest likelihood of recording below-normal temperatures. In contrast, Alaska is anticipating warmer-than-normal temperatures during this time. The greatest chance of above-normal precipitation is over the Southeast as well as through the Rocky Mountains while much of the central Plains and Midwest as well as the West have the greatest chances of having below-normal precipitation.
