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

A swath of precipitation (0.5 to 1.5 inches) this past week led to small improvements from parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas northeastward to the Central Appalachians. Since the major drought that affected the Central Appalachians and Upper Ohio Valley peaked in late September, drought has steadily improved across these areas the past two months. Near to above-normal precipitation during the past 30 days supported drought improvement across parts of the Northeast. Farther to the south across the Southeast, Lower Mississippi Valley, and Texas, 30 to 60-day precipitation deficits continue to increase with expanding and intensifying drought during mid to late December. December is typically a drier time of year for the Upper Midwest and Northern to Central Great Plains where little to no weekly drought change was warranted. Since the beginning of October, precipitation has generally averaged below normal across the Central Rockies, Great Basin, Southwest, and southern California. From December 17-23, enhanced onshore flow resulted in wetter-than-normal conditions across coastal northwestern California and much of the Pacific Northwest. 7-day temperatures, ending on December 23, averaged above normal throughout the West and Central to Southern Great Plains with colder-than-normal temperatures limited to the Great Lakes and Northeast…

High Plains

Based on SPIs at various time scales, low snowpack, and the NDMC short-term blend, a 1-category degradation was made to northern Colorado along with southern and northwestern Wyoming. Snow water equivalent amounts are below the 5th percentile where extreme drought (D3) was expanded in Wyoming. These same indicators justified an expansion of abnormal dryness (D0) across southwestern Colorado. Severe drought (D2) was expanded across western Nebraska due to soil moisture percentiles falling below the 10th percentile and support from the 90 to 120-day SPI…

West

Based on increasing water year to date (WYTD: October 1-December 23) precipitation deficits, a 1-category degradation was warranted for central Nevada. For this same reason, moderate drought (D1) was added to portions of northeastern Nevada. Elsewhere, no other changes were made. WYTD precipitation was at or above-normal for much of the Pacific Northwest and northern California and below-normal for the remainder of the West region. As of December 23, snow water equivalent (SWE) was below-normal across the Northern Rockies of Montana and Wasatch Mountains of Utah. SWE was near average for the Sierra Nevada Mountains and highly variable throughout the Cascades…

South

Based on increasing short-term precipitation deficits and 30 to 90-day SPIs, abnormal dryness (D0) and moderate drought (D1) were expanded across northern Louisiana and portions of south-central Mississippi. These same indicators along with the NDMC short-term blend supported the expansion of D1 to severe drought (D2) across portions of eastern and southern Texas. Around one inch of precipitation supported a 1-category improvement across portions of Arkansas and central to southeastern Oklahoma. Recent precipitation also led to improvement across northern Tennessee to be consistent with bordering areas of southeastern Kentucky…

Looking Ahead

During late December, multiple low pressure systems will bring heavy precipitation (rain and high-elevation snow) to the Pacific Northwest and northern California. On December 27, widespread rain with locally heavy amounts (more than 2 inches) is forecast for eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas, and Arkansas. A slow-moving low pressure system and trailing front are forecast to bring varying precipitation amounts (0.5 to 1.5 inches) to the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast.

The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook (valid December 30, 2024-January 3, 2025) favors above-normal temperatures across the East, Southern Great Plains, and Southwest. Near normal temperatures are favored for the Northern Great Plains, Northern Rockies, and Pacific Northwest as above-normal temperatures are forecast to moderate during this 5-day period. A pattern change is forecast during the first week of the New Year with a transition towards near or below-normal temperatures for much of the lower 48 states. Elevated above-normal precipitation probabilities are forecast for the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. Below-normal precipitation is more likely for the southern two-thirds of California and the Southwest.