To view the latest Oklahoma drought map, CLICK HERE.
The rain that moved across Oklahoma last week is giving drought-stricken areas some much-needed relief after months of hot and dry conditions. While drought remains widespread across the state, the recent moisture has already made a noticeable difference and helped improve conditions in several areas.
According to the Drought Monitor, exceptional drought has shrunk by 8.30% this week, now covering 16.09% of the state.
Moderate to extreme drought conditions in the current period affect 96.70% of the state. At this point, 3.3% of Oklahoma has only abnormally dry conditions, the lowest tier on the drought monitor, in the panhandle.
According to the 6-to-10-day precipitation outlook map, southwestern Oklahoma is leaning above a 50-60% chance of rain, while northeastern Oklahoma is leaning above a 40-50% chance through October 17th.
Heavy to excessive rainfall impacted significant parts of the Contiguous States this past week. Amounts of 4 to locally over 8 inches of rain were common across south-central and southeastern Georgia, northeastern Florida, the Florida Panhandle, portions of the immediate Gulf Coast, and a swath from central Texas through the middle Red River (South) Valley. This brought an abrupt end to a protracted spell of hot and dry weather across the southern Great Plains that dated back through most of the summer. Dallas, TX recorded 4 inches of rain from September 30 through the first week of October, including a daily total of 3.47 inches on October 1. Prior to that, Dallas recorded only 0.01 inch of rainfall July 16 through September 29 (76 days), and a total of 2.27 inches going back to June 8. Elsewhere, a few broad areas recorded at least 2 inches for the week, including most of the Gulf Coast, southern Alabama, central and southern Georgia, the northern half of Florida, a large stripe through central and adjacent eastern Texas, central through southeastern Oklahoma, and in numerous patches from southeastern Colorado and much of Kansas through southeastern Nebraska, portions of Iowa, northern Missouri, northern Illinois, and the central to southern Great Lakes Region. In some of the wetter locations across the central Plains and adjacent Front Range, impacts improved substantially enough to justify 2-cagegory improvements on the Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, several patches across northern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, and the adjacent Lower Ohio Valley also received 2 or more inches of rain. Moderate totals exceeding 0.5 inch, with localized totals topping 2 inches, affected areas from the central High Plains and southern half of the Great Plains eastward and northeastward through much of the Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys, the central and southern Great Lakes, the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic Region, and the St. Lawrence Valley. Meanwhile, light precipitation at best was observed through most of the Northeast, the Upper Ohio Valley, the far Upper Mississippi Valley, the northern Great Plains, and most areas from the High Plains to the Pacific Coast outside Kansas, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Many existing areas of drought that were impacted by the heavy precipitation experienced marked relief, but despite expansive areas receiving little or no measurable precipitation, drought intensification was limited in extent, largely due to the lower temperatures and the typical autumnal decline in human and environmental water demand.
In the South: A variable precipitation pattern was observed across Tennessee and the Lower Mississippi Valley last week, resulting in some areas of nominal improvement (scattered across eastern Tennessee, southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, and northern and northwestern Arkansas) and other areas of somewhat increased moisture deficits and deterioration (scattered across central and western Tennessee, southern and eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and central through southwestern Louisiana). Farther west, across Texas and Oklahoma, broad areas recorded heavy to excessive precipitation, resulting in several sizeable areas of widespread improvement. Multiple inches of rain – for the second consecutive week in some areas – induced improvements across most of southeastern and Deep South Texas, and in a swath from central Texas through much of the Red River (South) Valley into central Oklahoma. Farther west, across the Big Bend and the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, light to moderate precipitation following the excessive amounts recorded last week led to widespread one-category improvements. Enough precipitation was observed to support 2-category improvements at a few locations in Deep South Texas, south-central Oklahoma, and the western Oklahoma Panhandle. There were a few patches in southwestern Texas and the northern interior missing the heavy precipitation that hit most locations over the past couple of weeks, resulting in scattered spots of deterioration. Improvement was far more common across Texas and Oklahoma, however, as opposed to the mixed bag of changes noted farther east.
In the High Plains: Widespread heavy precipitation abetted robust improvement across eastern Colorado, central and western Kansas, and parts of southern Nebraska. Numerous locations reported 3 to locally over 6 inches of rain, which was sufficient to support 2-category improvements in portions of southeastern Colorado and the western half of Kansas. Precipitation amounts declined abruptly north of a line from central Colorado through northeastern Nebraska, and only a few tenths of an inch at best was observed beyond this delineation. Still, improvements were introduced in parts of the central and northern Dakotas where earlier precipitation may have been more beneficial than initially assessed. The only areas of deterioration noted were in northeastern Colorado and part of north-central Wyoming, which consistently have been north and/or west of the heaviest precipitation. Elsewhere, dryness and drought intensities did not markedly change from last week.
In the West: Moderate to heavy precipitation (0.5 to locally approaching 2.0 inches) fell early in the period across north-central and northeastern New Mexico, but conditions were quiet across the rest of the West Region. There were scattered small areas reporting a few tenths of an inch of precipitation last week, primarily in Montana and the lower Four Corners States, while most sites observed no measurable amounts. But despite the predominantly dry week, fairly substantial areas of improvement were noted as the environmental response to earlier above-normal to heavy precipitation continued. Improvement was most common this week across New Mexico, Arizona, and Montana, with a few areas also noted in southeastern Idaho and Utah. Across almost all of Nevada, Idaho, and the three West Coast States, dryness and drought were essentially unchanged from the prior week.
To view the 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook Map, click here.
To view the 6-10 Day Temperature Outlook Map, click here.
To view the Monthly Drought Outlook Map, click here.
