Nationwide
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Temperatures this week were generally cooler than normal west of the Continental Divide, while warmer than normal temperatures were common in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.
Heavy rain fell across widespread sections of the eastern United States in many locations due to the influences of tropical cyclones Fred and Henri and their remnants. The widespread rainfall led to condition improvements in areas suffering from abnormal dryness or moderate drought. Tragically, this led to a flash flood event with numerous fatalities in Tennessee.
Parts of the Midwest, High Plains, and West regions received beneficial rainfall this week, which led to improved drought conditions in some locales. Many locations across the central United States that missed out on heavier rains this week saw drought conditions degrade.
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The West
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Drought continued to plague much of the West region of the United States this week. Heavy rains in parts of Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Utah combined with well below normal temperatures (ranging from 4 to 8 degrees below normal) to stave off any expansion or worsening of drought areas this week.
Due to recent monsoonal rainfall, drought conditions improved in northern Arizona and southern Utah, adjacent parts of southern Nevada and southeast California, and New Mexico. Heavy rain in the far northern Idaho Panhandle led to a small reduction in exceptional drought coverage.
It is possible that conditions may continue to improve in some locations after this week’s rainfall. However, it is currently unknown how beneficial this week’s rains were in locations that were quite dry previously.
The High Plains
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In the High Plains region this week, temperatures were mostly below normal west of the Continental Divide in Colorado, in Wyoming, and in far western parts of South Dakota and North Dakota. Elsewhere, temperatures were generally above normal.
Rain fell over wide areas of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and western Colorado, leading to some improvements in drought conditions. Parts of the Missouri River Valley in northeast Nebraska, northwest Iowa, and southeast South Dakota did not see much rain, however, moderate, severe, and extreme drought expanded there. Heavy rain, with some areas seeing 5 or more inches, struck northeast Colorado and southwest Nebraska, though as is typical of warm-season thunderstorm complexes, rainfall gradients were rather tight in some areas.
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Drought conditions improved in areas that saw heavy rain, while some expansion of severe drought occurred in areas of southwest Nebraska that missed out on the rain, where agricultural drought impacts and precipitation deficits have been mounting.
Heavy rainfall in North Dakota led to some localized improvements to the ongoing drought, though some short-term and especially long-term precipitation deficits remain in areas which received heavy rain. Ongoing drought also impacted the bee population in North Dakota. — UNL Drought Monitor
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