While there were targeted improvements, widespread drying continued across the nation this week. Drought coverage increased around 8-percent since last week.

Northeast
Light to moderate rain fell across most of the Northeast this week. However, the heaviest rainfall occurred over areas with normal to near normal conditions. There were small expansions to abnormal dryness in southern New Jersey, which missed out on much of the rainfall. Moderate drought (D1) also expanded into western Pennsylvania as the dry weather from the Ohio River Basin continues to intensify. Despite seeing 1 to 2 inches of rain, West Virginia did not see any reprieve from drought this week, which is now predominantly covered in severe drought (D2) or worse.

Last week, exceptional drought (D4) was added to a portion of West Virginia. This was the first time in history that this area of West Virginia has seen Exceptional Drought (D4). The governor of West Virginia has declared a state of emergency for all of West Virginia given drought conditions impacting crop and livestock.

Southeast
It was an active week of weather across the Southeast this week. Most areas did pick up at least 1 to 2 inches of rain. However, it was not enough to make up for mounting precipitation deficits, drying soils and low streamflows. Both North and South Carolina saw one-category degradations in western areas. Drought worsened and expanded across Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, with an area of severe drought being added to southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Heavy rain did occur in Virginia, which was the only area in the Southeast to see improving drought conditions this week, with decreasing coverage of abnormally dry and moderate drought (D1) conditions.

South
Massive amounts of rain fell in the South this week. Parts of central Texas saw 8 to 12 inches of rain! Abnormal dryness and drought ranging from moderate to exceptional (D1-D4) decreased in coverage across Mississippi, Louisiana and most of Texas.

Unfortunately, far northern Texas, southern Oklahoma, and all of Tennessee missed out on this beneficial moisture. This caused an expansion of moderate to severe drought (D1-D2) along the Texas-Oklahoma border. Precipitation deficits and drying soil moisture also led to an eastward expansion of abnormal dryness and moderate (D1) into Tennessee.

Midwest
The southern and eastern portions of the Midwest were plagued by dry and unseasonably warm weather this week. This allowed for deterioration in dryness and drought conditions. The hardest-hit area is in Ohio. After having exceptional drought (D4) introduced to parts of the state for the first time in history, exceptional drought expanded further across southeast Ohio this week. Extreme (D3) or exceptional (D4) drought now afflicts 22-percent of the Buckeye State. Both pasture lands and the corn crop have been heavily impacted, with 25-percent of the corn in Ohio now rated to be in poor or very poor condition.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, abnormally dry conditions expanded across southern/central Illinois and Indiana as well as central Kentucky. Moderate drought (D1) expanded in western Kentucky.

Meanwhile, northern and western areas saw small areas of improvement and degradation depending on where rain fell. Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula returned to near normal conditions. Areas of western Iowa missed out on much of the precipitation, so there was an expansion of abnormally dry conditions. Similarly, western Illinois and eastern Missouri saw abnormal dryness and moderate drought (D1) expand.

High Plains
Like much of the nation, rainfall was hit-or-miss across the High Plains this week. For most areas, any rain that did occur was not enough to make any change to the drought depiction. Though, there were some targeted improvements.

The western Dakotas saw an expansion of abnormal dryness and moderate to severe drought (D1-D2). Nebraska also had abnormal dryness and moderate drought expand. The northern half of Kansas stayed fairly dry, so there was an expansion of abnormal dryness and moderate to severe drought (D1-D2). The Front Range and eastern Colorado saw very little to no rainfall this week, so there were degradations in dryness and drought. Abnormal dryness did shrink across western Colorado given beneficial rainfall. Wyoming stayed status quo.

West
Parts of the West received rainfall and saw improvements to drought conditions this week, while other areas missed out completely. Areas with improvements include the Northwest and Four Corners, while degradations occurred in the desert areas of Nevada, Arizona and California as well as isolated areas of the northern Rockies.

Utah saw improvements on the eastern border with Colorado, but abnormally dry and moderate drought (D1) conditions did expand in the southwestern corner. Southern Nevada, western Arizona and southern California had an expansion of abnormally dry and moderate drought (D1) conditions. Conditions from northwestern Washington into northern California have seen improvements in short-term dryness as streamflows and soil moisture improves. Across the rest of Washington, there are still some lingering long-term drought conditions, but short-term drought seems to be improving.

Looking Ahead
A stationary front will be draped along the Gulf Coast into the Southeast throughout most of the upcoming week. This will lead to daily chances for moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms for the Southeast and parts of the South. Dryness and drought will likely improve here.

While some weather systems and cold fronts move across the U.S., this will be a fairly dry weather pattern throughout the U.S. Targeted improvements are possible, but most areas will remain the status quo or having worsening drought.

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Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Widespread Drying Worsens Drought Throughout U.S.