Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu
Map released Sept. 3, 2020 | Data valid Sept. 1, 2020
This week’s drought summary: The big weather news this past week surrounded the rain and wind from Hurricane Laura as it pushed through the lower Mississippi Valley, then northeastward south of the Ohio River to the central Appalachians. Southwestern Louisiana was most severely impacted. Winds gusted to 135 mph in Lake Charles, Louisiana, before the anemometer failed. Rains totaled five inches to locally over a foot along Central and Western Louisiana, adjacent Texas, much of Arkansas, and Southeastern Oklahoma for the seven days ending Tuesday morning. Other areas accumulating more than four inches included parts of Alabama and Mississippi (especially in the northern reaches) and scattered sections of the central Appalachians and eastern Ohio Valley, central Wisconsin, the western Florida Peninsula, and part of interior North Carolina. In contrast, little or no precipitation fell on most of the Carolinas and Eastern Georgia, the upper Midwest, most of the Central and Southern Plains, and from the Central Rockies to the Pacific Coast.
South: Thanks in large part to Hurricane Laura, only patchy D0 conditions exist from Central Oklahoma and East Texas eastward despite temperatures averaging three to seven degrees above normal this past month. In contrast, serious drought is plaguing Western Oklahoma and the central and western portions of Texas, with small areas of exceptional drought (D4) just south of the Texas Panhandle and over the interior Big Bend region. Precipitation shortfalls of four to six inches for the past 60 days – and six to 8eiht inches for June-August — cover parts of the Big Bend. Two-to five-inch deficits for the past 60 days were measured in the rest of central and western Texas, while June-August totals four to six inches less than normal affect most of Central Texas and parts of Western Oklahoma.
Looking ahead: During the next five days (Sept. 3-7), WPC’s QPF forecasts little or no precipitation (and thus persisting or intensifying drought) to the North and West of Texas. Similarly, light precipitation at best is expected across the interior Southeast and much of the northern Ohio Valley. Moderate precipitation (several tenths to 1.5 inches) should fall on the Great Lakes, upper Midwest, the Northeast, and most of Florida. Heavy precipitation is expected over a large swath across Central and Northeastern Texas, where totals from 1.5 to locally more than four inches are expected. Robust precipitation is also forecast in a band stretching from Arkansas to West Virginia, where many areas should record 1.5 to 2.5 inches.
Meanwhile, well-above-normal temperatures are expected from the High Plains to the Pacific Coast. High temperatures should average more than 12 degrees above normal from the Rockies to near the Pacific Coast, exceeding 18 degrees above normal in the Great Basin. Farther east, conditions will be less remarkable. Nighttime lows will be a few degrees above normal across the East, Southeast, and South-Central regions, and near normal in the Great Plains and upper Midwest. During the day, temperatures should top out a few degrees below normal on average in the northern Plains, and closer to normal in other parts of the eastern half of the contiguous states.
The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook (Sept. 8-12) favors above-normal rainfall in the Central and Southern Plains and from the Mississippi Valley eastward. The odds also tilt toward surplus precipitation in most of Alaska, outside the Panhandle. In contrast, subnormal precipitation is expected in the Northern Plains, the Southern High Plains, the Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, below-normal temperatures are heavily favored in the Plains and surrounding areas, and odds tilt toward cooler than normal weather from the Rockies to the Appalachians. From the Appalachians eastward and from the Intermountain West to the Pacific Coast, warmer than normal weather is expected. Across Alaska, the northern tier should average cooler than normal while above-normal temperatures are favored along the southern tier.