Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Map released Aug. 13, 2020 | Data valid Aug. 11, 2020

This week’s drought summary: As Tropical Storm Isaias made its way up the East Coast, many areas in the Northeast were beneficiaries of good precipitation amounts, but others missed out completely. In typical summer fashion, rains were hit and miss across the country, with the West and into the Southern Plains as well as most areas of the South mainly being missed. Mixed precipitation was recorded through the Plains and Midwest as well as portions of the Southeast. A strong derecho ripped across the Midwest on Aug. 10 with over 100 mph straight line winds doing damage to crops and property. Temperatures were cooler than normal over much of the Midwest and High Plains, with portions of Missouri and Illinois six to eight degrees below normal for the week. Temperatures were near normal along much of the east coast and six to eight degrees above normal over West Texas and into New Mexico.

South: Temperatures were two to four degrees below normal over much of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Western Mississippi and Tennessee, North Louisiana, and portions of Northeast Texas. Temperatures were warmer than normal from Central Texas into the West and Panhandle, where departures were three to five degrees above normal. Outside of areas of Oklahoma, Western Arkansas and North Texas, it was a dry week over the region. Coupled with the warm temperatures, much of Texas had degradation shown this week. Improvements were shown over the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles as well as in Eastern Oklahoma. Abnormally dry conditions and moderate drought were expanded over Northeast Arkansas, with abnormally dry conditions expanded over Western Mississippi. Tennessee had improvements to abnormally dry conditions in the east, but saw expansion of those conditions in the South along with the introduction of some moderate drought.

Looking ahead: Over the next five to seven days, it is anticipated that much of the area west of the Continental Divide will be dry. Areas of the Central Plains and upper Midwest will see an active pattern for precipitation while much of the area of the Southeast into the Mid-Atlantic should also see the greatest precipitation during the period. Temperatures during this time should be well above normal over the West, with departures of six to nine degrees above normal. In the areas anticipated to see the most precipitation, from the northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic, temperatures will be cooler than normal as a trough digs into the region out of Canada.

The 6-10 day outlooks show a divide in temperatures, with the western half of the United States, including Alaska, having above-normal chances of seeing above-normal temperatures and the eastern half having above-normal chances of below-normal temperatures. A drier than normal outlook is expected over much of the country, with the area having the greatest probability of below-normal precipitation centered on the Midwest. Areas of the Mid-Atlantic south to Florida have the greatest chances of having above-normal precipitation.