Nationwide
Heavy rainfall associated with Hurricane Idalia brought damaging winds and flooding centered along its path. Idalia moved from the Gulf of Mexico inland along the northeastern Gulf Coast of Florida and continued northeastward through south-central and east-central Georgia, slightly inland from the South Carolina Coast, then across southeastern North Carolina before moving into the open waters of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”bf47f142-4d91-11ee-82b8-ef6ae8248001″}}
Farther west, a surge of tropical moisture pushed northward into the southwestern U.S., continuing northward across the Great Basin, Intermountain West, and adjacent Rockies into adjacent Canada. Heavy rainfall fell in a broken pattern over this general area, with the highest amounts reported across interior southeastern California, much of the middle Colorado River Basin, and scattered areas farther north. The heaviest amounts outside the lower Colorado River Basin fell on higher elevations and over areas where precipitation was enhanced by orography, as is typical.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”c07dfdae-4d91-11ee-9e75-2b3e0171b94c”}}
Most of the Nation, however, endured a hot and drier-than-normal week, including most areas of drought. Temperatures averaged 5-10 F, accompanied by deficient precipitation over a large area from the Rockies to the Appalachians and central Gulf Coast Region, prompting drought intensification over large parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Central States, and the southern tier of the country west of the Florida Panhandle. Improvement was limited to the band of heavy precipitation from Hurricane Idalia and in scattered locales affected by the tropical moisture surge in the Desert Southwest, from southeastern Utah to central Arizona westward toward central California.
The West
Monsoon rains remained subpar across eastern Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado, prompting a continued slow deterioration in dryness and drought there. With the monsoonal wet season winding down during September, the odds for heavy precipitation episodes decline, and thus, the prospects for significant relief from the intensifying dryness and drought become progressively worse.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”be3266f2-4d91-11ee-a064-ab8813c28fb3″}}
Dryness and drought also cover large parts of Washington and Oregon, as well as the northern tiers of Idaho and Montana. Some deterioration was noted in north-central Montana, but farther west, conditions were essentially unchanged in northern Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.
The High Plains
Conditions vary markedly from southeast to northwest here. Similar to western sections of the Midwest Region, Kansas and Nebraska in the southeastern High Plains region is largely covered by drought, including significant expanses of D2 to D3 conditions, with new or expanded D4 (exceptional drought) noted in a few locations.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”bdb06314-4d91-11ee-9693-4f7bc5a8a51e”}}
Farther west and north, conditions are much more favorable. To the north and west of central Nebraska, dryness and drought are restricted to the eastern and northern Dakotas and southwestern Colorado. As in other parts of the Nation’s midsection, agricultural drought stress is palpable and on the rise. Across Kansas, 40% of soybeans are in poor or very poor condition, as are 33% of the corn crop, 29% of sorghum, and 47% of rangelands.
Across Nebraska, about one-quarter of all the aforementioned crops are in poor or very poor condition. Still, this region did not see the degree of deterioration observed in the Midwest Region, with significant worsening most notable in central and eastern Kansas.
The South
Brutally hot and dry weather again this week kept dryness entrenched across Texas, southern Oklahoma, Louisiana, and southern Mississippi. For the past two months, temperatures averaged 4-8 F above normal from most of the Four Corners States eastward through most of Texas and Louisiana and across southern Mississippi.
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”bd29318c-4d91-11ee-827e-db1200c2b999″}}
A solid swath of extreme to exceptional drought (D3-D4) is now entrenched from central Texas eastward through most of Louisiana and southern Mississippi, expanding slightly northward. Outside the large area of solid D3-D4 conditions, conditions generally deteriorated where dryness was antecedent or on the cusp of developing and remained essentially unchanged elsewhere. In contrast, Tennessee and most of Arkansas remained free of any systemic dryness.
According to the USDA, the cotton crop has not fared well this summer, suffering through the persistent hot and rain-free weather. Almost 80% of the Oklahoma cotton crop is in poor or very poor condition, as is 61% of Texas cotton. Peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, and rice planted in Texas, Louisiana, southern Oklahoma, and southern Mississippi were also being stressed by from heat and lack of rainfall. However, the proportion in poor condition or worse is considerably lower. In addition, deteriorating pastures and rangelands are stressing livestock. As of early September, 72% of Texas rangelands, 63% of Louisiana pastures, and almost 40% of Mississippi pastures were in poor or very poor condition. — UNL Drought Monitor
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”b5ce65b0-4d91-11ee-9329-6ba2a25b129c”}}
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”b1324756-4d91-11ee-84cf-2faaf778af32″}}
{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”eca12168-4d91-11ee-99b8-a7cf42100a2c”}}
