USA: Drought Monitor has pockets of improvement

Dryness worsened in western Minnesota.

Rains expected in parts of the Midwest this week and next will have a big deficit to fill, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map and report released Thursday morning. Much of western Minnesota has gone from moderate drought to severe drought in the last seven days and a pocket of exceptional drought, the worst category, has grown smaller in central North Dakota.

The conditions released today are based on data that is current as of 8 a.m. EDT this past Tuesday.

According to this week’s drought summary, “Another week of hot, dry weather in the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest led to the expansion of drought conditions. Meanwhile, monsoon thunderstorms brought wet weather to eastern New Mexico and West Texas have resulted in large one-category improvements. Showers and thunderstorms associated with a slowly moving cold front helped improve conditions in the Great Lakes region and the eastern United States. Drought expanded in parts of the Mid-Atlantic that missed out on the heaviest rain.”

In the Midwest, “Wet weather continued this week over much of the lower Midwest, leaving that part of the region drought-free with pockets of abnormal dryness (D0). Across the northern tier, drought expanded in Minnesota and Iowa as high temperatures of 6°F. to 9°F. above normal, combined with little or below-normal rainfall, dried out soils and stressed vegetation. Rainfall deficits of 4 to 10 inches are present over the last 90 days.”

In the High Plains, “Another hot, dry week across the northern tier of the region, coupled with isolated showers, brought a mix of degradations and improvements. Drought expanded in parts of Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska that missed out on the heaviest rainfall. Soils remain dry with USDA reporting that 92% of South Dakota and 76% of North Dakota’s topsoil moisture is short to very short, leading to limited hay production and stunted crop growth.” However, drought conditions have improved in parts of Wyoming and eastern Nebraska with showers over the past two weeks. “In North Dakota, rainfall is finally helping to chip away at the long-term drought that has plagued the state since fall of 2020,” today’s report says.

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Tags: weather, drought, USA