Drought expands in southern Texas
The pattern has been less active over the continental United States over the past 7 days, with high pressure dominating over much of the western CONUS. Drought continued to expand in the West, as dry conditions persisted over much of the region. Parts of Oregon and California saw increases in D0 and D1 coverage, while areas of D0 were expanded slightly in Montana. There was some D1 added to northeastern areas of Colorado (High Plains Region), as the past 60 days have seen drier than normal conditions.
Drought intensification and expansion also continues in southern Texas (Southern Region), in association with continued dryness, low humidity, and high winds over the past week. The Midwest and Northeast continue to remain as is for now, as 90-day precipitation surpluses are widespread across many of these areas, with other areas near normal.
Midwest
Some dryness was noted during the last 30 days in southern Iowa and northern Missouri, but long-term surpluses are widespread across the Midwest, so this is welcomed dryness for many areas. Sub-soil conditions are wetter than normal and USGS average stream flows were near and above normal for most of the region, thus no D0 development was required this week.
High Plains
Some D1 was added over northeast Colorado with YTD precipitation 50 to 65 percent of normal. Stream flows were also running well below normal for this area. Recent ground observations support this addition of D1. SPIs over several time periods also show deterioration. The rest of the High Plains Region has long-term surpluses of precipitation. No D0 development expansion was made elsewhere.
South
Drought intensification over southern Texas continued, along with expansion into adjacent coastal areas. Stream flows are below normal for many areas, and recent high winds and low humidity have enhanced surface soil moisture loss. YTD percent of normal precipitation was 25 to 50 percent for much of southern Texas, with less than 10 percent along the Rio Grande Valley. This is on top of receiving essentially no precipitation over the past 30 days, and beyond, for many areas south of the I-10 corridor. D0 remains for portions of the immediate Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama this week, although dryness has crept northward in these areas with the sharp north-south precipitation gradients in recent weeks.
