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Soggy, stormy weather in the southern Plains led to drought relief this week, while there was variable rainfall across the rest of the nation.

A combination of rainfall and further analysis of the snowfall that occurred over the winter created improvements across roughly the southern two-thirds of the West. The recent warmth has caused some rapid melting of high-elevation snowpack, creating some flooding. However, the northern half of the western U.S. only saw spotty showers this week and received less rain/snowfall over the winter. This along with a recent early-season heat wave caused the return of patchy areas of abnormal dryness.

Mostly dry weather returned to the High Plains this week, but there was some locally heavy rain in parts of eastern Colorado and southern and western Kansas. This heavy rain led to some reductions in the coverage of moderate to exceptional drought. Much of the recent rainfall has bypassed eastern sections of South Dakota and Nebraska, with some increase in drought coverage noted in Nebraska.

Short-term dryness has begun to intensify across the Midwest, especially from the Lower Missouri Valley into the lower Great Lakes region. As a result, this led to the introduction or expansion of several areas of abnormal dryness. Moderate to severe drought was also added or expanded in a few spots across Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

In the South, there continues to be significant drought improvement, especially in some of the hardest hit areas of Oklahoma and Texas. However, some pockets of extreme to exceptional drought persisted in western and central Texas and across the northwestern half of Oklahoma despite the abundant rain and thunderstorms. Farther east, most areas remained free of dryness and drought, aside from a few areas in the central Gulf Coast region.

Locally heavy rain drenched parts of Alabama and the southern Atlantic states, which led to general reductions in the coverage of abnormal dryness and moderate to extreme drought. Some of the heaviest rain fell in Florida, creating significant improvement in soil moisture and a reduction to the wildfire threat. Rainfall was lighter in a few areas, including some of Florida’s driest areas along the Gulf Coast.

There was a brief shot of rain in the Northeast that provided some relief from short-term dryness. As heavy rain spread northward along the Atlantic Coast, daily-record rainfall totals for May 20 totaled at least 2 to 3 inches or more in Providence, R.I., and Bridgeport, Conn. As a result, there were modest reductions in the coverage of abnormal dryness (D0), mainly from Long Island to Maine.

Looking ahead, a large upper-level system will create almost daily chances for showers and thunderstorms across the western half of the U.S. A slow-moving disturbance will drift across the Southeast for most of the forecast period, bringing rain and thunderstorms. Both weather systems will have the potential for heavy rain and flooding. Drier weather is anticipated across the rest of the East.

Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

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Latest Drought Update: Drought Improvement Continues For The Central U.S.