Nationwide
Heavy precipitation fell in western Oregon and adjacent southwest Washington and northwest California this week, and across large portions of the central U.S., as a series of storm systems caused continued bouts of severe thunderstorms and unfortunately included more significant tornadoes.
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The wet weather across portions of the Great Plains and Midwest led to either scattered or widespread improvements to ongoing drought or abnormal dryness, dependent on precipitation amounts, improvements to soil moisture and streamflow, and the degree of long-term dryness remaining in different locations. In Virginia, the Carolinas, and eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, heavy rains or lack thereof this week led to localized improvements or degradations in areas of short-term moderate drought or abnormal dryness.
Very dry weather for the past few months led to increased fire danger in parts of the Florida Peninsula, and short-term moderate drought and abnormal dryness expanded in coverage. In southwest Kansas and adjacent eastern Colorado, mostly to the west of where this week’s showers and thunderstorms occurred, flash drought conditions continued and severe and moderate drought expanded in coverage.
The West
The West region this week saw heavy precipitation (locally exceeding 2 inches) fall in eastern Montana, while portions of northern California, northeast Oregon, western Oregon and southwest Washington also saw heavy precipitation amounts (locally exceeding 5 inches in northwest California and western Oregon). Streamflows improved amid the wet weather in northwest Oregon.
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Farther north in Washington, short-term dryness continued, especially in parts of the Cascade and Olympic ranges, where snow-water content and streamflow remained low, and moderate drought and abnormal dryness expanded. The heavy rains in eastern Montana ended a recent stretch of dry weather there, preventing any degradation to the ongoing drought. The effects of these rains across the eastern plains will be evaluated further next week. Except for eastern New Mexico and parts of Arizona, most of the West region was colder than normal this week. Parts of Oregon, southern Idaho, northern Utah and northern Nevada saw temperature readings 6-12 degrees below normal.
The High Plains
Moderate to heavy rain amounts fell in eastern portions of the High Plains region, especially in central and eastern Nebraska, northern and eastern Kansas and eastern North Dakota. Temperature anomalies varied across the region, with temperatures coming 3-6 degrees above normal in southern Kansas, while northwest Colorado and Wyoming finished the week at 3-9 degrees colder than normal.
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In eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and eastern North Dakota, heavy rains continued the recent wet pattern, leading to ongoing drought and abnormal dryness improvements. In parts of eastern Nebraska, improvements were somewhat tempered by remaining long-term precipitation deficits and hydrologic impacts from those deficits.
In southwest Kansas and adjacent southeast Colorado, many areas mostly or completely missed out on recent rains, continuing the very dry weather from the last few months, during which Dodge City tied its record for the driest April on record there (with just 0.02 inches of precipitation). Flash drought conditions continued in these areas, and severe and moderate short-term drought expanded. Given the time of year during which this drought began, severe impacts to the wheat crop in portions of Kansas have occurred. Recent dryness also led to some expansion of drought and abnormal dryness in portions of eastern Wyoming.
The South
Widespread heavy rains fell across portions of the South region, especially in western Arkansas, central and eastern Oklahoma, and central and eastern Texas. Heavier rain also occurred in a few spots in northern Mississippi and Tennessee.
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Most of the region had warmer-than-normal temperatures this week, with departures of 6-9 degrees above normal being common in northern Mississippi and Tennessee, while 3-6 degrees above normal was common elsewhere. In areas of improvement to drought and abnormal dryness in central and eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas, recent showers and thunderstorms have continued to improve precipitation deficits, streamflow, and soil moisture.
In central Texas, a tight gradient in long-term drought conditions has developed, as heavier rains have recently fallen along the northern edge of moderate to extreme long-term drought conditions. Some reservoirs have seen some recent improvement in levels in the area, though significant deficits remain. In deep south Texas, dry weather over the last month or two has led to significant short-term precipitation deficits, and a small area of short-term moderate drought developed. Heavier rains (or lack thereof) in Tennessee led to small-scale improvements and degradations in areas of moderate drought and abnormal dryness. — UNL Drought Monitor
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