Nationwide
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A slow-moving cold front resulted in thunderstorms with heavy rainfall (locally more than 3 inches) across the central to southern Great Plains, lower Mississippi Valley, and the Ozarks Region from May 31 to June 2. As this front progressed eastward, locally heavy rain also fell across the Ohio Valley and Northeast.
Mid-level low pressure, which has persisted over the northeastern Pacific through much of the spring, continued to enhance onshore flow and precipitation from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the northern Rockies. 7-day precipitation amounts from May 31 to June 6 exceeded 0.5 inches (locally 2 inches or more) over a broad spatial area of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and northern Wyoming.
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Seasonal dryness prevailed across southern California and the Desert Southwest. 7-day temperatures, from May 31 to June 6, averaged above-normal across much of the eastern and southern tier of the U.S., while cooler-than-normal temperatures prevailed throughout the northern to central Great Plains and upper Mississippi Valley.
The West
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The wet late spring continues to support improving conditions from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the Northern Rockies. Based on multiple indicators, including springtime precipitation, soil moisture, and streamflow, a broad 1-class improvement was made to eastern Washington, with improving conditions also supported for parts of Oregon.
The recent precipitation was enough to shift the long-term Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEIs) out of exceptional (D4) drought in much of Klamath and Lake Counties of Oregon. In western Idaho, severe drought (D2) was improved to moderate drought (D1) based in part on the hydrologic response in the Weiser Basin.
Southwestern Montana had a 1-class improvement following recent wetness, soil moisture recharge, and 60-day Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Precipitation amounts of 1 to 3 inches along with below-average temperatures resulted in a 1-category improvement to parts of north-central Montana. Despite the recent cool pattern, 90 to 180-day SPIs supported 1-category degradation to parts of northern Montana. Impacts in this worsening drought area include required supplemental feeding, very dry soils, and dry stock ponds.
Based on 90-day SPI and hydrology considerations in the Sevier River basin, extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought was expanded across parts of Utah. Widespread severe to exceptional drought persists throughout much of the Southwest, Great Basin, and California. Hydropower production concerns at reservoirs in California and Nevada continue due to low water levels.
The High Plains
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Heavy rainfall (1.5 to 3 inches, locally more) this past week resulted in a 1-category improvement to southeastern and central Kansas. More than 1.5 inches of rainfall this past week, along with soil moisture and long-term SPIs, supported a change from exceptional (D4) to extreme (D3) drought in parts of southwestern Kansas and adjacent southeastern Colorado. This past week, widespread beneficial rainfall exceeding 1 inch prompted a 1-class improvement to much of eastern Colorado.
Swaths of heavy rainfall (more than 1 inch) also led to improvements in various Dx categories across parts of Nebraska and South Dakota. Much above-normal precipitation during the past 30 to 90 days and soil moisture percentiles supported the elimination of moderate drought (D1) across much of west-central Wyoming.
The South
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Heavy rainfall (1.5 to 3 inches, locally more) resulted in a 1-category improvement to west-central OK and northwestern TX, setting up a tight west to east gradient in Dx categories. In areas such as Custer County in western Oklahoma, which locally received as much as 8 inches of rainfall during the past week, a 2-category improvement was justified. This heavy rainfall extended southward into southeastern New Mexico and western Texas, where parts of the Permian Basin, Davis Mountains, and Big Bend received more than 2 inches at the beginning of June.
Farther to the east, across parts of central and eastern Texas, along with northwestern Louisiana, increasing short-term precipitation deficits (2 to 4 inches), above-normal temperatures, and higher evapotranspiration rates resulted in a 1-category degradation. This expansion of abnormal dryness (D0) was supported by 30 to 60-day SPEI, and these areas stand out on the Evaporative Demand Drought Index product for flash drought.
Eastern Texas and northern Louisiana will have to be closely monitored in subsequent weeks as short-term drought could rapidly develop. Locally heavy rainfall resulted in a slight decrease in D0 for northeastern Louisiana. On June 6, heavy rainfall extended south of the Ohio River in Tennessee. — UNL Drought Monitor
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