Agricultural News
Drought Persists Across Much Of The Western U.S. While Rain From Hurricane Claudette Quenches The Midwest And South According To The Latest U.S. Drought Monitor Update
Thu, 24 Jun 2021 09:50:25 CDT
Temperatures continue to remain above normal this week for much of the Western and High Plains regions, while the Midwest and South received rainfall from Hurricane Claudette, improving their drought conditions according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor update.
Results from Claudette's rainfall included widespread improvement to drought conditions in North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as improved conditions in northern Florida and southern Georgia. Severe thunderstorms, including an EF3 tornado that hit western suburbs of Chicago, affected parts of northern Illinois, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, and southern Michigan on Sunday.
The storms delivered beneficial rainfall to areas suffering from moderate, severe, and extreme drought. Meanwhile, relatively dry weeks in both the Northeast and the West caused drought conditions to worsen, for the most part, in both regions.
Across the South, in areas not affected by Claudette, rain was relatively scarce. Temperatures were generally near normal in the eastern part of the region, while the Texas Panhandle and northwest Oklahoma were warmer than normal.
Moderate drought developed near Woodward, Oklahoma, and slightly expanded in the northwest Texas Panhandle.
Moderate and severe drought continued in southwest Oklahoma, and conditions ranging from abnormal dryness to exceptional drought (D4) continued along the Texas/Mexico border.
In a similar situation is the High Plains region, who suffered paltry rainfall in areas of ongoing drought and abnormal dryness. The dry weather combined with warmer than normal temperatures is leading to the widespread worsening of drought in these areas.
To view the U.S. Drought map, click here.
In Oklahoma, the map continues to look decent as 75.77 percent of the state is drought free. This compares to 63.26 percent three months ago and 43.25 percent one year ago.
There are no shades of red (D3 extreme drought) and very little bright orange (D2 severe drought) on the Oklahoma map this week.
To view the Oklahoma drought map, click here.
Looking ahead to next week, temperatures will stay above normal for the western half of the state and normal precipitation is expected for Oklahoma.
To view the 6-10-day precipitation outlook, click here.
A normal to above average summer, precipitation-wise, is now forecast by NOAA for much of the Oklahoma. To view this outlook, click here.
In the latest seasonal drought outlook, the NOAA expects drought likely to persist in a tiny sliver of northwest Oklahoma while most of the eastern half of the state, on the other hand, is averaging more precipitation than usual.
Unfortunately, drought will persist and intensify for much of the western U.S.
To view the new seasonal drought outlook map, click here.
The U.S. Drought Monitor Map is developed through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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