Nationwide
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Over the last week, multiple storm systems moved into the Pacific Coast, resulting in mostly beneficial precipitation in western portions of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Some of these areas saw improvements to ongoing drought conditions as a result of these precipitation events.
A few other spots in the West, primarily north and east of the Great Basin, saw some precipitation, but conditions in other parts of the West were largely dry. Outside of the Pacific Coast states, only a few changes were made to the Drought Monitor this week in the West.
Elsewhere in the contiguous United States, widespread rain, amounting to between half an inch and 2 inches, fell in the Southern Great Plains, primarily along and to the east of Interstate 35. As a result, some areas along the Texas/Oklahoma border and parts of south Texas saw improvements to drought conditions.
Farther east, heavy rainfall struck parts of Florida and the southeast U.S. coastline, resulting in some improvements to dryness in Florida, Georgia, and southern South Carolina. In drier parts of North Carolina and adjacent South Carolina, drought conditions remained the same or worsened. While not enough to improve ongoing dryness and drought in the Michigan upper peninsula, lake effect snow staved off any worsening of drought.
Along the Pacific Coast, temperatures were generally within a few degrees of normal this week. Farther east, roughly northwest of a line from the Great Lakes to El Paso, temperatures were well above normal. Southeast of that line, temperatures were mostly cooler than normal, with parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas falling 6 to 10 degrees below normal. Parts of the Dakotas saw temperatures 6 to 10 degrees warmer than normal.
The West
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Along the Pacific Coast, near or slightly below normal temperatures combined with heavy precipitation (which exceeded 5 inches in some areas) to improve drought conditions in parts of northern California, southwest Oregon, and Washington.
In central Utah, groundwater conditions and long-term precipitation deficits had improved enough for some of the exceptional drought to improve to extreme drought.
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In Montana, much of the eastern part of the state remained dry, leading to some expansion in exceptional drought, where multiple short- and long-term datasets indicate worsening conditions. In western Montana, a small part of exceptional drought improved to extreme drought where short- and long-term precipitation deficits had improved.
In small parts of western Colorado and south-central Wyoming, streamflow and precipitation deficits had decreased enough to lead to improving drought conditions. Farther east in Colorado, recent warm temperatures combined with dry weather led to worsening drought conditions in a few areas.
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Finally, moderate drought expanded in eastern New Mexico, where short-term dry weather combined with depleted soil moisture led to worsening conditions. Due to widespread recent precipitation, much of the West region is now experiencing long-term drought, rather than both short- and long-term drought.
The High Plains
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Primarily dry weather occurred in the High Plains region this week. In western South Dakota, precipitation amounts up to an inch fell, and more minor precipitation amounts occurred in south-central Kansas. A couple of minor improvements to conditions occurred in western Kansas.
Well above normal temperatures returned this week in the Dakotas, where temperatures from 6 to 10 degrees above normal. In the Dakotas, where long-term drought is still ongoing, livestock water quality and fawn production were reported to be suffering due to the drought.
The South
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In eastern Texas and Oklahoma, and in far northwest Louisiana and western Arkansas, widespread rain over a half-inch fell this week. As a result, many areas from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and eastward along the Red River saw improvements to ongoing drought and dryness. Improvements also occurred in south Texas.
In parts of southwest Texas that did not see rain, some worsening of drought conditions occurred due to increasing precipitation deficits and lessening soil moisture. Conditions also worsened in parts of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, where short-term precipitation deficits increased. This week, most of the region saw cooler than normal temperatures, with widespread readings between 6 and 10 degrees below normal in east Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The western reaches of the South region saw near- or above-normal temperatures. — UNL Drought Monitor
Editor’s Note: USDA has stopped publishing the pasture and range conditions in the Crop Progress report until next spring.
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