This week’s drought summary
Heavy to excessive rainfall significantly improved or removed drought from parts of the Northeast and south-central Great Plains. The heaviest amounts fell in a broken pattern from lower New York through Vermont, and in a swath from central Oklahoma through the fringes of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. Many of these areas recorded over 6 inches of rain, with totals approaching 9 inches in a few isolated spots. Lesser but still heavy amounts exceeding 3 inches fell on portions of the central Plains, Texas Gulf Coast, lower Mississippi Valley, interior Southeast, Carolina Coastline, and upper Great Lakes Region, allowing drought to ease in some of these areas. In contrast, other parts of Texas, the middle and upper Mississippi Valley, the lower Great Lakes, and the central and northern Dakotas received only several tenths of an inch of precipitation at best, resulting in several areas of deepening drought. Hot weather from the desert Southwest through the southern Plains and across Florida exacerbated drought conditions there. West of the Rockies, seasonably dry conditions prevailed.
South
Highly variable condition were noted across this region. Heavy to excessive rainfall triggered some flooding in an area from the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles southeastward through northeastern Texas, with several locations in central Oklahoma reporting 7 to locally near 10 inches of rainfall. Existing dryness in this area was eliminated or at least greatly improved. Meanwhile, most of interior and western Texas saw little if any rainfall, prompting expansion and intensification of dryness and drought there. In addition, much of northern Arkansas and adjacent Oklahoma reported only light rainfall at best, allowing expansion and intensification of D0 to D2 conditions across this area Other parts of the South were covered by a broken pattern of moderate to heavy rainfall, with a few locales reporting over 3 inches of rain. Scattered areas of improvement were noted through these regions.