• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

To Honor and Protect the Ranching Way of Life

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Why Join
    • Leadership
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • FAQs
    • Newsroom
    • Sponsorships
    • Employment
  • What We Do
    • Theft and Law
    • Issues and Policy
    • Education
    • Students and Young Professionals
    • The Cattleman Magazine
    • Disaster Relief Fund
    • Cattle Raisers Insurance
    • Cattle Raisers Trading Co
  • Events
    • Cattle Raisers Convention
    • Policy Conference
    • Summer Meeting
    • Ranch Gatherings
    • Ranching 101
  • Join
  • Member Center
  • TSCRA Store
  • Show Search
Hide Search

US Drought Monitor and Summary for July 24, 2020

Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Map released July 23, 2020 | Data valid July 21, 2020

This week’s drought summary: High pressure dominated the southern half of the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) during this U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) week. Upper-level weather systems tracked across the U.S.-Canadian border, dragging surface lows and fronts along with them. The frontal systems tapped Gulf of Mexico moisture to drop locally heavy rain across parts of the Plains to Midwest, while convective thunderstorms peppered coastal areas of the Gulf. The high-pressure ridge inhibited precipitation across much of the Southern Plains to Southeast, and across most of the West. It also kept temperatures unusually hot, with daily maximums exceeding 90 degrees F across the South throughout the week and across much of the West for most of the week. The excessive heat spread into the northern Plains, Midwest, and into the Northeast as the week wore on. The persistent heat increased evapotranspiration, which dried soils and stressed crops and other vegetation. The locally heavy rains brought temporary relief from the heat and dryness, but only for those areas in the Plains and Midwest lucky enough to receive the rain.

South: Two to locally more than five inches of rain fell across parts of the Texas Panhandle and Northwest Oklahoma, and along parts of the Texas to Mississippi coast. But it was another dry week across much of Texas to Eastern Oklahoma to Northern Mississippi and Tennessee. Moderate to extreme drought contracted in the Panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, but moderate to severe drought expanded in other parts of Texas, with pockets of extreme drought added to Southwestern Texas and Southwestern Oklahoma. Abnormal dryness or moderate drought expanded further east across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Looking ahead: For July 23-27, the Southwest Monsoon is predicted to fire up, dropping locally two or more inches of rain across parts of the Four Corners states, and up to an inch of rain is forecast over parts of the Northern Rockies. Otherwise, the West is expected to be mostly dry. A tropical system may bring up to four inches of rain along the western Gulf of Mexico coast and up to two inches over Southern Florida, while frontal systems could leave one to three inches of rain over parts of Nebraska, the northern Plains to western Great Lakes, parts of the Midwest to Appalachians, the Mid-Atlantic coast, and parts of the Northeast. In between these systems, large swaths of the Southern and Central Plains to Southeast and Southern Great Lakes have less than an inch of rain in the forecast. Temperatures are predicted to continue warmer than normal for most of the CONUS.

The outlook for July 28-Aug. 1 calls for wetter-than-normal conditions across the Southwest to Mid-Atlantic region and most of Alaska, and drier-than-normal conditions in the Pacific Northwest to Great Basin, Northern Plains to Great Lakes, and much of the Northeast, as well as Southeast Alaska. Odds favor warmer-than-normal conditions for most of the West, Northern Plains to Great Lakes, eastern Gulf Coast, all along the Eastern Seaboard, and across the Aleutians in Alaska. Cooler-than-normal temperatures are likely across the Southern to Central Plains and across most of Alaska.

Written by:
kristin
Published on:
July 24, 2020

Categories: Natural Resources, The Cattleman Now, The Cattleman Now - App, Weather

Recent Posts

Crime watch: Brangus bull missing in Fayette County

June 13, 2025

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger Kenny Murchison, District 20 in …

Continue Reading about Crime watch: Brangus bull missing in Fayette County

Crime watch: Cattle missing in Freestone County

June 13, 2025

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger Chace Fryar, District 21 in East …

Continue Reading about Crime watch: Cattle missing in Freestone County

Crime watch: Charolais bull missing in Luling

June 13, 2025

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger Robert Fields, District 25 in …

Continue Reading about Crime watch: Charolais bull missing in Luling

Footer

Who We Are

Why Join
Leadership
Staff
Partners
FAQs
Newsroom
Sponsorships
Employment

What We Do

Theft and Law
Issues and Policy
Education
Students and Young Professionals
The Cattleman Magazine
Cattle Raisers Insurance
Cattle Raisers Trading Co.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Information

Cattle Raisers Blog
News Releases
Bereavements
Events
Sponsorships & Advertisement
Tip Hotline
Get Involved
Links

Membership

Membership Center
Membership Center Instructions
Join
Renew
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

PO BOX 101988
FORT WORTH, TX 76185

1-800-242-7820

© 2023 Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; All Rights Reserved.

COPYRIGHT | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE