Nationwide
Light precipitation covered most of the 48 states. Less than half an inch fell on most areas across the central and northern Plains, Texas, the Southeast, and from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast. More than two inches of rain occurred in parts of the south-central Great Plains and adjacent western Mississippi Valley, western deep South Texas, and central Montana.
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The broadest area of heavy precipitation covered a wide swath from south-central Kansas through southern Missouri, where two to four inches fell. Similar amounts were scattered from southern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas through southern Louisiana.
Isolated sites in southwestern Texas were soaked by as much as six inches of rain, but closer to two inches fell on most locales there. Elsewhere, there were few areas of moderate precipitation from the northern High Plains into central Montana, and in parts of the northern Cascades.
The West
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Dryness and warmth led to deterioration in much of Nevada, Oregon, small parts of Washington, and the western Idaho Panhandle. Most notably, extreme dryness stretched southward in central Nevada, moderate drought enveloped much of northwestern Nevada and adjacent Oregon, moderate drought covered the central Sierra Nevada, and extreme D3 drought expanded in north-central Oregon with a general 1-category deterioration introduced farther east.
There were some spots where drought eased—significantly, D3 was improved to D2 in north-central California—but the dry and warm week led to much larger areas of intensification. Snowmelt continued at a rapid pace as temperatures in many areas across the West averaged 2-5 F above normal for the past 3 months, and 5-10 F for the past two weeks.
The High Plains
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Drought is intensifying quickly across the southern tier of this region from southern Colorado through western Kansas. Severe D2 drought is now prevalent throughout this area, and extreme D3 drought envelops much of southern Colorado and adjacent southwestern Kansas.
Most of this region has recorded less than an inch of precipitation during the past 3 months, and at best a few tenths of an inch have fallen mid-March. Abnormally warm weather is exacerbating the acute dryness. Farther north and east, many areas fell into abnormal dryness this past week as precipitation deficits continued to slowly accumulate.
Many areas have seen precipitation totals among the driest 5 percent of historical occurrences for the last 30 days, or 90 days, or both. D0 was introduced where the dryness has been most acute for 1 to 3 months, specifically southeastern Nebraska, a swath from southwest to north-central Iowa, part of eastern South Dakota, southeastern Minnesota, and a large area across central and northern Minnesota.
Precipitation has been sharply below normal for at least a few weeks, but impacts have been limited so far. At some point, conditions could deteriorate rapidly if these trends continue, so this region must be monitored closely as we move into the growing season.
Farther west, northwest South Dakota and surrounds was one of very few areas to improve this past week, along with part of north-central North Dakota. Generally, 2-4 inches of precipitations moistened up these regions in the last two weeks, eliminating D0 in northwestern South Dakota and adjacent areas.
Precipitation has not been as generous across northern Wyoming, with D0 stretching into northeastern parts of the state, and adjacent Montana. Precipitation among the driest 10 percent on record was observed in the new D0 areas over the last 4 months. On the other end of the state, abnormal dryness was also introduced in southwestern Wyoming adjacent to Utah. — United State Drought Monitor
