Damp, stormy weather occurred east of the Rockies last week, leading to widespread improvements to the drought depiction. This includes the drought-stricken areas in the South.

South
A wet, soggy week of weather occurred throughout the South. The heaviest rain fell from a band from central Oklahoma southwestward across the Red River into parts of northwestern Texas. This area recorded around 4 to 8 inches of rain. The rest of the South region generally picked up 2 to 4 inches of rain. Besides the Oklahoma Panhandle, hard-hit drought areas of western Oklahoma and western Texas also saw improvements last week.

Dryness and drought remain widespread across most of Texas outside of the northeast and over western parts of Oklahoma, with some deterioration to severe drought (D2) noted in the Oklahoma Panhandle. A broad area of exceptional drought (D4) remained entrenched across a large swath of central and western Texas, though there was some erosion of its eastward extent.

East of this area of solid drought coverage, most areas are free of dryness and drought, and locally heavy rains reduced the coverage even further in part of southeastern Mississippi. Small, isolated areas of abnormal dryness (D0) elsewhere were limited to northwestern Mississippi and eastern Tennessee. Arkansas is entirely free of any dry conditions or drought.

High Plains
Precipitation varied significantly across the region last week, but more areas were hit by heavy rain and improving conditions rather than dryness and deterioration.

The dry week led to deterioration across southwestern Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and much of the central tier of Colorado. Farther north and east, however, widespread heavy rains were noted in several swaths of the Plains and Wyoming, leading to reductions in the intensity and extent of dryness and drought. Improvements were most widespread across central and northwestern Kansas, and most of the state of South Dakota, where heavy rains were most widespread.

Still, despite the improvement in many areas, 60-day precipitation totals were under 25 percent of normal in southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, with less than half of normal reported in adjacent areas plus parts of central Kansas, central and northeastern Nebraska and a few other scattered areas.

West
A band of moderate to heavy rain fell across southeastern and south-central Montana as well as isolated spots in eastern Idaho. There was a narrow corridor of heavy rain in east-central New Mexico, while some limited improvement occurred northern and western Washington as small parts of northern Montana based on a reassessment of conditions. Otherwise, the rest of the West region was dry last week.

Conditions were broadly downgraded across interior northern Montana, and increasing moisture deficits led to the expansion of abnormal dryness (D0) into southwestern Washington and much of northwestern Oregon. In addition, surface moisture depletion has become increasingly obvious across several areas in New Mexico, leading to a significant increase in extreme drought (D3) coverage there.

The dryness was more climatologically seasonable across Arizona, Nevada, and California, where conditions were unchanged this week.

Midwest
A wetter-than-normal weather pattern continued across much of the Midwest this week.

Because of precipitation this week and over the past several weeks, there was widespread improvements to the drought depiction in Iowa and Minnesota. Severe drought (D2) was removed completely from Minnesota, with scattered areas of moderate drought (D1) remaining. After the week’s improvements, severe drought (D2) is limited to a small part of the east-central Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Dryness and drought coverage has not been as widespread across northern Missouri, central and northern Illinois, southern and northern Wisconsin, part of the central and southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and central Indiana. There was very little change to the drought depiction in these areas, although some small-scale adjustments were made based on recent precipitation observations.

Southeast
Heavy rains were common in a band across the southern Appalachians, northern Georgia, and a broad portion of Alabama. Scattered moderate rains with isolated heavy amounts were observed in southeastern Georgia and much of South Carolina. In contrast, little or no rain fell across southeastern Alabama, the southern tier of Georgia and most of Florida.

Dryness and drought have been expanding and deteriorating quickly across southeastern Alabama, southern Georgia and most of Florida. A majority of the Florida Peninsula is now entrenched in severe drought (D2) or worse, with extreme (D3) drought conditions identified in parts of the southern and northeastern Peninsula. Most areas from the central Carolinas northward through Virginia reported subnormal rainfall, leading to some areas of deterioration, mostly into moderate drought (D1) there.

Northeast
Locally heavy rain fell across parts of the Northeast, with eastern and southern Maine, northwestern Pennsylvania and scattered parts of western Pennsylvania picking up anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches or more of rain. It was generally drier across most of southern New England, the East Coast Megalopolis and adjacent Maryland and Pennsylvania and western New York.

Despite the heavy rains, improvement was limited in southern Maine and lower New England, where deficient groundwater remains a concern. In addition, the locally heavy rains prompted some small-scale improvements in parts of north-central and northwestern Pennsylvania and central Vermont.

Deterioration was limited to a few patches in northeastern Pennsylvania and adjacent New York and New Jersey. Severe drought (D2) persists from central and northern Maryland through south-central and east-central Pennsylvania.

Looking Ahead (April 29th through May 5th)
The first half of the forecast period looks to be active and soggy for the eastern two-thirds of the nation. Several weather disturbances will move across the central and eastern U.S. during this time, bringing almost daily chances for rain and thunderstorms. The heaviest rain looks to fall in the South and southern portions of the High Plains, which would likely continue to improve dryness and drought conditions. Though, parts of the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast will also likely see beneficial moisture.

Meanwhile, the West will likely see more of a dry, quiet weather pattern into the start of the weekend. Things will likely change by the middle to end of the forecast period as an upper-level weather system looks to settled over the western U.S. This will bring rain and mountain snow to most areas, though some of the Northwest and Desert Southwest miss out on most of the moisture. Isolated to scattered improvements to drought and dryness are likely for most of the West.

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Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

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