Widespread improvements to ongoing areas of abnormal dryness or drought continued across parts of the eastern United States as the remnants of Hurricane Debby moved up the Atlantic Coast.
Locally over 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the eastern Carolinas, while widespread rain amounts of at least an inch or two (locally much higher) were common through the eastern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. In these areas of heavier rains, one- or two-category improvements to ongoing drought or abnormal dryness were widespread.
In eastern portions of the Midwest and across much of the Southeast and south-central United States (except for Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle), primarily dry weather prevailed, mostly leading to unchanged or worsening drought or abnormal dryness.
Swaths of heavy rain fell in parts of northwest Missouri, Oklahoma, northeast New Mexico, Colorado, and southeast Wyoming, leading to localized improvements in drought or abnormal dryness in these areas. The central and north-central U.S. were mostly cooler than normal this week, especially from Kansas north into the Dakotas and Minnesota, where temperatures from 6 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit below normal were widespread.
Near- or warmer-than-normal temperatures were common in the West, with the warmest temperatures of 3 to 9 degrees above normal primarily occurring in California, Nevada, and Utah. The eastern U.S. saw a mix of above- and below-normal temperatures, though most places finished the week within 3 degrees of normal.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. (Map courtesy of NDMC.)
South
Except for the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, the South saw primarily dry weather. Soil moisture and streamflow dropped in parts of western Tennessee amid growing precipitation deficits, leading to expansion of abnormal dryness and short-term moderate drought there. Similar conditions in Mississippi, portions of Louisiana, and Arkansas led to moderate drought and abnormal dryness expansion.
Farther west in Oklahoma, a couple heavy bands of rain fell across central and eastern parts of the state during nighttime thunderstorm complexes. This led to widespread improvements in ongoing drought. A two-category improvement occurred from southern Oklahoma City through Norman, where rainfall amounts of 6 or more inches were common.
Heavier rains in the western Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles led to localized improvements where precipitation deficits lessened. Much of Oklahoma and Texas along and just south of the Red River saw short-term dryness intensify, leading to large-scale degradation in drought and abnormal dryness.
Temperature anomalies across the region varied north to south. The northern half the region was mostly near normal or cooler than normal (locally 3 or more degrees below normal), while the southern half of the region ranged from near normal up to 3 or more degrees above normal.
Midwest
Most of the Midwest region was cooler than normal, especially northern Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, where temperatures from 6 to 9 degrees below normal were common. With a few local exceptions in northwest Missouri, weather was mostly dry in the Midwest.
Moderate short-term drought expanded through southwest Missouri this week where streamflow, soil moisture, and short-term precipitation deficits worsened.
High Plains
Mostly cooler-than-normal weather occurred across the High Plains states east of the Continental Divide. Temperatures from Kansas northward into the Dakotas ranged mostly from 6 to 12 degrees below normal. Precipitation amounts varied more widely; parts of southwest Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and southeast Wyoming saw heavier rains.
This led to improvements in drought or dryness where precipitation deficits lessened. Other areas of central and eastern Nebraska, southeast and northeast Kansas, and western North Dakota were drier, leading to development or expansion of drought and abnormal dryness. Mostly dry weather also continued in western South Dakota where moderate and severe drought continued, and continued dry weather may lead to worsening conditions.
Western Wyoming also saw expansions of drought conditions along the Idaho border amid continued dry short-term conditions.
West
Heavier rains fell in parts of northeast New Mexico and portions of Utah. The locally heavy rains in northeast New Mexico led to local improvements where precipitation deficits lessened in the short- and long-term.
Recent rainfall led to local improvements to ongoing short-term moderate drought along the Utah-Colorado border. Elsewhere, scattered degradations occurred in the northern half of the West region.
Northeast Montana saw expansion of moderate and severe drought due to short-term precipitation deficits and deficits in streamflow and soil moisture.
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Looking ahead
Through Aug. 19, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center is forecasting mostly drier weather in the West aside from some precipitation in northwest parts of Montana. Heavier rainfall amounts, locally exceeding an inch, are possible primarily east of the Missouri River.
Looking ahead to the period from Aug. 20 to 24, the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s forecast favors warmer-than-normal temperatures from New Mexico through Texas and the Gulf Coast. Wetter-than-normal weather is slightly favored along the northwest Great Plains, and the central and northern Rocky Mountains.
Curtis Riganti is with the National Drought Mitigation Center.
