Nationwide
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Tropical Storm Beta made landfall on September 21, about 10 pm CDT near Port O’Connor, TX, with sustained winds near 45 mph.
Once inland, slow-moving Beta weakened and turned northeastward, crossing the Mississippi Delta before dissipating on September 25 over the Southeast. Nevertheless, heavy rainfall associated with Beta caused local flooding, especially along and near the middle and upper Texas coast. Beta’s heavy rain tracked across an area (centered on Mississippi) experiencing abnormal dryness (D0) and moderate drought (D1), leading to a significant boost in soil moisture.
Mostly dry weather covered the country’s remainder, aside from a few showers in the upper Great Lakes region and some beneficial precipitation in the Northwest. Across much of the Plains and Midwest, open weather favored agricultural fieldwork but further reduced topsoil moisture in drought-affected areas.
Worsening drought remained a significant concern across much of the country’s western half, with adverse impacts on rangeland and pastures. In addition, the return of hot, windy weather fanned several new Western wildfires. Near- or above-normal temperatures prevailed in the West, with the hottest weather occurring in the Four Corners States.
As the drought-monitoring period ended on September 29, approaching heavy rain brought the promise of relief to the Northeast, enduring its second major drought in 5 years.
The West
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Precipitation in the Pacific Northwest aided wildfire containment efforts and brought slight improvement in the drought situation, mainly west of the northern Cascades.
The much-needed Northwestern precipitation delivered daily-record amounts on September 23 in western Washington locations such as Hoquiam (1.32 inches), Olympia (1.23 inches), and Seattle (1.08 inches). Troutdale, Oregon, reported more than an inch of rain on September 18, 23, and 25—with totals of 1.13, 1.18, and 1.02 inches, respectively. Precipitation spread as far inland as the northern Rockies; in Idaho, daily-record totals included 0.55 inch (on September 25) in Stanley and 0.54 inch (on September 26) in McCall.
Farther south, several new patches of exceptional drought (D4) were introduced or expanded in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. As the water year (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020) came to an end, extreme drought (D3) was expanded in northern California and portions of neighboring states.
California’s two most dangerous new wildfires were the Glass and Zogg Fires, both of which started on September 27. The Glass Fire, in Napa and Sonoma Counties, and the Zogg Fire, in Shasta County, both scorched about 50,000 acres of vegetation a couple of days, with little containment. Meanwhile, very poor to poor ratings were indicated by USDA on September 27 on at least 50 percent of rangeland and pastures in all Western States except Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, led by Oregon (82 percent very poor to poor). On the same date, topsoil moisture was at least 60 percent very short to short in every Western State except Arizona, led by New Mexico (86 percent very short to short).
The High Plains
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Dry, occasionally breezy weather led to a “flash-drought” situation, with rapid development or expansion of dryness and drought.
Several days of summer-like warmth contributed to the drying; in Nebraska, daily-record highs rose to 95 F in Valentine (on September 22) and North Platte (on September 23). On September 24, East Rapid City, South Dakota, noted a daily-record high of 93 F. By September 27, topsoil moisture across the region rated very short to short, ranged from 49 percent in Kansas to 77 percent in Colorado.
Wyoming led the area with rangeland and pastures rated 64 percent very poor to poor. Colorado producers had planted 66 percent of their intended winter wheat acreage by September 27, leading the nation (and nine percentage points ahead of the 5-year average). Still, only 19 percent of the crop had emerged (eight points behind average). These statistics—rapid planting but slow emergence—were indicative of dry conditions. — UNL Drought Monitor
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