A highly variable weather pattern brought wide temperature and precipitation swings to much of the U.S. Heavy rainfall along a stalled cold front allowed for improvements in parts of the High Plains, South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, while a drier, warmer pattern generally prevailed throughout the West and north-central U.S.

West

A warm, dry weather pattern prevailed throughout much of last week in the West. The exception was late into the drought monitoring period when a strong cold front brought cooler temperatures and beneficial moisture in the form of rain and some mountain snow to the Northwest and northern Rockies.

Given the largely dry weather, there were some small-scale degradations across Montana, Idaho and New Mexico, where the effects of the meager winter snow coverage are beginning to be felt in falling streamflow values. Most notably, severe to extreme drought (D2-D3) expanded in southeastern Idaho, southwestern Montana and central/eastern New Mexico. Severe drought (D2) worsened across eastern Montana, while moderate drought (D1) also expanded in parts of central Idaho and south-central Montana.

Meanwhile, status quo was generally maintained west of the Rockies as reservoir conditions remain good across California during a climatologically dry time of year. There were some localized improvements though to extreme drought (D3) in southeastern Utah as well as severe drought (D2) in a portion of central Montana and northern Utah.

High Plains

The High Plains region saw a battle of seasons last week. The first half of the drought monitoring period saw unseasonably cool temperatures, while warmer, summer-like heat filtered in for the second half of the period. A stalled cold front brought rounds of rain and thunderstorms to southern Wyoming, northern Colorado and Nebraska, with some areas picking up almost 2 inches of rain! There was a sharp cutoff on precipitation elsewhere, with generally drier weather reported in southern Colorado, much of Kansas, western Wyoming and the Dakotas.

Improvements made in northern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska. While an area of exceptional drought (D4) remains centered over northeastern Colorado, severe and extreme drought (D2-D3) contracted slightly around this area. Extreme drought (D3) was almost completely removed from northeastern Colorado, while it improved slightly in southwestern Nebraska. Moderate to severe drought (D1-D2) also decreased in size over the rest of northeastern Colorado.

Degradations made in the western Dakotas, western/central Kansas and southern Colorado. Severe to extreme drought (D2-D3) worsened across central/eastern Kansas into southern Colorado. In Nebraska, 90 percent of the Cornhusker State remains in some for of drought.

Midwest

Like the High Plains, there was a sharp cutoff between temperatures and rainfall last week. A stalled cold front allowed for a cool, soggy weather pattern for the Lower Midwest, with rainfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches.

At the same time, high pressure resulted in largely dry, warmer than normal conditions across the Upper Midwest. The northern Mississippi Valley and western Corn Belt region is reporting browning grass and increased irrigation as a result of another dry week. The exception was the Great Lakes, which did see some light rain that was sufficient to remain status quo.

Due to the heavy rainfall, there were improvements made to the Lower Midwest. In fact, northern Kentucky and far southern Ohio saw a 2-category improvement this week. Both abnormal dryness and moderate drought (D0-D1) were removed from southern Ohio, so Ohio is now completely free of abnormal dryness and drought. Extreme drought (D3) contracted substantially across Kentucky into southeastern Missouri, with just localized areas of extreme drought still remaining. The rest of Kentucky saw improvements to abnormally dry (D0) and moderate to severe drought (D1-D2), while abnormal dryness (D0) was completely removed from southern Indiana.

Moderate drought (D1) expanded in northern Minnesota. Abnormal dryness either worsened or expanded across the rest of Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, western and southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.

South

A stalled cold front was draped over eastern portions of the South last week, resulting in widespread heavy rain. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches were common across most of Tennessee, with similar amounts in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Some localized thunderstorms brought relief to some areas, but hot temperatures across western Texas and western Oklahoma resulted in degradation where precipitation did not occur.

Most of the region reported improvements last week, including most of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of Texas. Most notably, exceptional drought (D4) contracted across northern Arkansas, while exceptional drought was removed from southern Texas. Extreme drought (D3) was almost completely removed from Tennessee, southeastern Louisiana and southern Texas. Abnormal dryness (D0) and moderate to extreme drought (D1-D3) decreased in coverage across southwestern Tennessee and most of Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern/southern Texas.

The Texas and Oklahoma panhandles worsened as a result of the dry weather, with extreme to exceptional drought (D3-D4) increasing in coverage.

Southeast

A slow-moving cold front and ample moisture from the Guld resulted in copious rainfall across the Southeast region. Weekly accumulations of 2 to 6 inches fell across western and northern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, much of Georgia and portions of the southern Appalachians and Piedmont. Accumulations were closer to an inch across east-central Alabama, central Georgia, the Atlantic coastal plain and portions of North Carolina and Virginia.

Widespread drought reductions were made throughout the Southeast given the above normal rainfall. Exceptional drought (D4) saw improvements in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida. Extreme drought (D3) was removed across southeastern Alabama, while extreme drought was reduced significantly across Virginia, the Carolinas, much of Georgia and west-central Florida. Northern and central Alabama also saw moderate to severe drought (D1-D2) shrink.

Northeast

Hot temperatures at the beginning of the drought monitoring period yielded to a cool, unsettled pattern across the Northeast region. Widespread thunderstorms overspread the region along a cold front, which was followed by a chilly rain. Soaking rains fell across the southern portions of the region, with 2 to 4 inches of rain common across West Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. The steady rain and cool temperatures were ideal for boosting soil moisture and streamflows across the Mid-Atlantic.

Widespread drought reductions were introduced to West Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. Maryland saw severe drought (D2) contract, while abnormal dryness to severe drought (D0-D2) improved across West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania.

In contrast, drier conditions over southeastern New England resulted in small areas of degradation in Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts.

Looking Ahead

A late season storm system is expected to bring unusually wet weather to the western U.S. during the coming week, especially across California, Oregon, and Washington. Rain and mountain precipitation will spread into the northern Rockies by midweek, with the southern Cascades likely to receive the heaviest totals. Meanwhile, repeated rounds of thunderstorms are expected across the Plains, particularly in Nebraska and Kansas, where strong Gulf moisture could lead to more than an inch of rainfall in some areas.

In the eastern U.S., unsettled weather will continue across the Southeast, with the heaviest rainfall gradually shifting toward Florida and the southern Atlantic coast. A slow-moving cold front will keep showers active across the Deep South, while cooler, drier air moves into the Corn Belt and Northeast later in the period.

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Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

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