Nationwide
[inline_image file=”7c34072a1e90b0e6492d0fc7fd690437.jpg” caption=”20200623_usdm.jpg”]
The Northeast (New York to New England) has seen conditions drastically deteriorate this week. Agricultural impacts are being reported across many areas in New England, particularly Maine, and 7-day USGS streamflows are below the 10th percentile for much of the Northeast Region.
Areas just east of the Rockies missed out on some of the heavier precipitation this week, which fell over central Kansas, central Oklahoma, and northern Texas. This allowed for some improvement, mainly in areas with D0 and D1 designations at the start of the week.
However, severe (D2) and extreme (D3) drought designations remained for many locations in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, eastern New Mexico and Colorado, and western Kansas.
Mixed improvements and degradation in the northern Rockies and High Plains.
The West
[inline_image file=”975df890c93367704edb633df2e25d28.jpg” caption=”20200623_West_trd.jpg”]
Much of the West remains the status quo this week. Montana saw the most change, as 7-day rainfall accumulations over 1 inch were able to dig into some of the short-term departures, mainly in D0 areas. However, extreme eastern Montana missed out on rainfall this week.
YTD Standard Precipitation Indexes (SPIs) are less than -2 in Richland County and USGS 7-day average streamflows are below normal (10th-24th percentile) near and just over the North Dakota/Montana state line, which warranted some D1 introduction there.
The High Plains
[inline_image file=”127004a58983f2d98964654bf9b76dda.jpg” caption=”20200623_High_Plains_trd.jpg”]
Similar to the Southern and Central Plains, many areas in the High Plains Region have fallen victim to above-normal temperatures, high winds, and a lack of precipitation in recent weeks.
Some reduction in drought coverage in areas receiving the heaviest precipitation throughout the region, most notably central Kansas where many areas received 2-6 inches of rainfall.
However, elsewhere 30 and 60-day deficits continue to increase, corresponding with D2-D4 equivalent SPIs and 25-50 percent of normal precipitation over the past 30 days across most areas depicted in drought.
Soil moisture also continues to suffer across western North Dakota, much of Wyoming, and all of Colorado (CPC showing soil moisture below the 5th percentile for much of Colorado). There have been reports of low reservoir levels in North Dakota.
Colorado has reported several episodes of 100-degree days in the southeast portion of the state in recent weeks, as well as cattle being sold and failing winter wheat crops. As such, severe drought (D3) is the status quo this week for southern and southeastern Colorado. — U.S. Drought Monitor
