According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, drought expanded slightly across the Central and Southern Plains, as well as the southern Corn Belt. Kansas now has 68.2% covered by drought (65.8% last week), with moderate (D1) drought expanding by two percentage points to 39.3%. Oklahoma now has 90.1% covered by drought (87.4% last week), with 3.2% covered by extreme (D3-D4) drought (0.2% last week). Texas saw a 4.6-point increase in its area covered by drought from the previous week to 29.1%.
The monitor notes, “A warm, windy and dry week dominated the High Plains, with only scattered rain over the region. Conditions are drying out with the windy and warm weather and any moisture recently received has been evaporated quite rapidly. Abnormally dry conditions were expanded over southeast Nebraska and into eastern Kansas while moderate drought was expanded over eastern Kansas as well. In southwest and south-central Kansas, moderate and severe drought were expanded slightly this week too. This area will need to be monitored closely for further degradation if precipitation does not materialize.”
Iowa now has 17.7% covered by drought (13.8% last week), with 54.1% of Illinois covered by drought (51.1% last week) and 17.1% now in D1 drought (2.9% last week). Nearly all of Missouri is covered by drought (98.5% last week), with 76.2% covered by D1 drought (64.42% last week).
The monitor notes varied conditions across the Midwest. “It was a fairly wet week over much of the Midwest with several frontal passages responsible for rain and thunderstorms. The area from southern Illinois into western Pennsylvania recorded the most rain, with some areas recording up to 3 inches,” it states. “With the recent rains, abnormally dry conditions were removed over much of Indiana and portions of eastern Illinois and northern Kentucky. Areas of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois remain dry over multiple timescales. Severe drought was introduced over central Missouri while moderate drought was expanded from northern Missouri into southern Iowa and more of western Illinois.”
In its outlook for the next five to seven days, the monitor notes an active pattern will develop over the South and into portions of the Southeast. “Up to 2 inches of rain is projected from south Texas into portions of Louisiana and Mississippi. Another storm system will impact the Pacific Northwest with both coastal and inland regions anticipating over 4 inches of rain and snow accumulating in the upper elevations,” it states. “Cooler air will move south out of Canada, bringing with it colder-than-normal temperatures over the eastern half of the United States. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected over much of the West and Southwest, with departures of up to 12 degrees above normal.”
