Nationwide
The first landfalling tropical storm of the season came ashore in east Texas, bringing significant precipitation to the area and up into the Ozark Plateau.
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Temperatures were cooler than normal over a large extent of the country from the Rocky Mountains and into the Plains and Midwest, where departures from normal temperatures were 3-9 degrees below normal. Excessive heat dominated the West Coast, where departures from normal temperatures over much of California were 12-15 degrees above normal. Many records were set, including 120 degrees in Las Vegas, beating the old record by 3 degrees, while Death Valley had five consecutive days with high temperatures over 125 degrees, topping out at 129 on July 7.
Near-normal to slightly above-normal temperatures dominated much of the East and Southeast. Along with the heat, much of the West was dry during the last week. Areas of the Plains recorded well above average precipitation, with some areas receiving 400-800% of average precipitation for the week. Spotty rains were common over the Southeast, with a very typical summertime pattern of widely scattered thunderstorms accounting for most of the precipitation. The driest areas were from Mississippi and northern Alabama into Tennessee and the Mid-Atlantic. Portions of northern Illinois eastward into Ohio were also dry throughout the week.
The West
It was a hot and dry week over the region, with only some spotty precipitation in areas of California and Idaho and more widespread precipitation over Montana, western Colorado, and New Mexico.
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Temperatures were above average over most of the West, with only Idaho, Utah, Montana, Colorado, and northern New Mexico below average for temperatures. Abnormally dry conditions were expanded over a large area of northern California, western Nevada, and Oregon, as well as in central Idaho.
A significant expansion of moderate drought was introduced over much of Oregon, where the short-term dryness coupled with the recent heat has worsened conditions in the state. Additional expansions of abnormally dry conditions were over the northeast and southwest Utah, eastern Washington and southwest Wyoming. Moderate drought expanded over central Washington, while severe drought expanded over northern Idaho.
Improvements were made this week in western Montana to the severe drought and the moderate drought in northern New Mexico. Abnormally dry conditions were removed over much of southwest Colorado and portions of northeast Arizona.
The High Plains
Like the Midwest, most of the region recorded precipitation during the week, with pockets of heavier rains in Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and southeast Colorado.
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Cooler-than-normal temperatures dominated the region, with almost all areas below average for the week. The greatest departures were in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, with temperatures 6-8 degrees below normal.
With much of the region drought free, there were pockets of improvement over Nebraska, western Kansas and southeast Colorado, where abnormally dry and moderate drought areas were reduced. Dryness in the Black Hills of South Dakota remained, and some expansion of severe drought took place this week. The driest areas remained in eastern Wyoming and eastern Colorado, where most places did not record much precipitation this week and moderate and severe drought conditions expanded along with more abnormally dry areas.
The South
Outside of western Oklahoma and north Texas, where temperatures were 4-6 degrees below normal, most of the rest of the region was 4-6 degrees above average for the week.
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The greatest rains fell over Oklahoma and into portions of central and north Texas. Significant rains were associated with Beryl in east Texas into Louisiana and Arkansas. Those areas that missed out on rains coupled with the warmer-than-normal temperatures saw drought expand and intensify, mainly over west Texas.
Severe and extreme drought expanded over west Texas while all the moderate drought was improved over Arkansas with some additional abnormally dry areas removed. Even with the significant rains in western Oklahoma, only slight improvements were made to the moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions as long-term conditions remained dry in this region. — UNL Drought Monitor
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