Nationwide
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Category 2 Hurricane Sally made landfall on Sept. 16 near Gulf Shores, AL, around 4:45 am CDT, with sustained winds near 105 mph. Torrential rainfall across southern Alabama and western Florida sparked significant record flooding, while wind-related damage and power outages were common.
Once inland over the Southeast, Sally quickly weakened but continued to produce heavy rain, extending as far north as southern Virginia. Mostly dry weather covered the remainder of the country, except for showers in the Pacific Northwest and heavy rain in the western Gulf Coast region associated with the arrival of Tropical Storm Beta along the middle Texas coast.
Beta, the 23rd named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season—behind only 28 tropical cyclones in 2005—made landfall at 10:00 pm CDT on September 21 near Port O’Connor, TX, with sustained winds near 45 mph.
Meanwhile, drought remained entrenched across much of the country’s western half and parts of the Northeast. In the latter region, growing season-ending freezes (starting Sept. 19) may limit drought-stressed pastures’ re-growth, even if widespread precipitation returns during autumn. Western wildfires continued to degrade air quality across a vast area, with approximately six dozen fires in various containment stages by Sept. 22.
The West
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Much-needed precipitation began to overspread the Pacific Northwest, signaling the change in seasons that should eventually deliver drought relief. For now, though, the Northwestern precipitation merely stabilized conditions in some areas and aided wildfire containment efforts. The Northwestern rain led to a daily-record sum of 1.14 inches on Sept. 18 in smoke-plagued Eugene, OR. The National Weather Service office in Seattle, WA, reported a record-setting total (1.35 inches) for September 19.
However, the remainder of the West remained mostly dry. Ground reports and the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) continued to indicate severe stress on native vegetation, as well as rangeland. USDA suggested very poor to poor ratings on Sept. 20 on at least 40 percent of rangeland and pastures in every Western State except ID, led by OR (84 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 AZ, led by NM (91 percent very short to short).
Water-Year 2020 (Oct. 1, 2019 – Sept. 30, 2020) will soon end, with preliminary summaries indicating a dire drought situation in much of the region and some areas continuing to observe drought expansion or intensification. More than six dozen wildfires remained active across the West, with the greatest concentration of fires (and poor air quality) persisting in the Pacific Coast States. The latest wildfires to surpass 100,000 acres of vegetation burned were both in California: Bobcat Fire, northeast of Pasadena, less than 20 percent contained, and the August Complex West Zone, near Covelo, about 40 percent contained.
The High Plains
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Western portions of the High Plains continued to experience serious drought impacts, including severely stressed rangeland and limited soil moisture for the germination and establishment of recently planted winter wheat.
On Sept. 20, according to USDA, topsoil moisture was rated at least one-half very short to short in CO (68 percent), WY (65 percent), NE (52 percent), and SD (51 percent). On the same date, WY led the region with rangeland and pastures rated 71 percent very poor to poor, followed by CO at 51 percent.
Colorado led the nation—among major production states—in very poor to poor ratings for corn (35 percent). Most of the region’s weekly changes indicated worsening drought, amid mostly dry weather and above-normal temperatures.
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