US Drought Monitor and Summary, April 4, 2017

Widespread one-category improvements were made to the depiction across Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, where heavy precipitation was reported by the Applied Climate Information Service (ACIS) in the past week. In Texas, Del Rio received 5.07 inches of rain on April 2, which is a record for the date and nearly one-third of their annual rainfall. In addition, all severe drought (D2) areas were removed from the Lone Star state, as short-term wetness was minimizing impacts. In Oklahoma, Interstate 44 served as a surprisingly good demarcation line between heavy precipitation to its north and west, and light precipitation to its south and east. The extreme drought (D3) area was reduced to severe drought (D2) over the Oklahoma Panhandle. In a small area encompassing portions of Osage, Pawnee, and Creek Counties, 4.0-5.5 inches of rain fell, justifying a rare two-class improvement to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Read more at droughtmonitor.unl.edu…