It was a mostly dry week over much of the region with only eastern Kansas receiving widespread, albeit light, precipitation. Moderate drought was reduced in northwest and east central Missouri as the recent wetter pattern has allowed a shift in the physical indicators. The last pocket of extreme drought was removed in southern Missouri along with improvements to severe drought here. It was reported that insulation from the snow has kept soils thawed in some areas, and moisture infiltration is being observed in soils. A reassessment of the data over western and southern Iowa allowed for some improvement to the extreme and severe drought in these areas. There was some isolated precipitation over Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Iowa and northern Minnesota. Temperatures were below normal over the entire region this week with the greatest departures over Kentucky, where temperatures were 16-20 degrees below normal. The rains allowed for some improvements, with a full category change over much of east Texas and improvements to moderate drought over central and northern Arkansas as well as the far northwest corner of Louisiana and southeast Oklahoma. These rains continued past the data cutoff period and everything from Tuesday morning forward will be assessed on the next map. The greatest rains took place in east Texas to southwest Arkansas and into southeast Oklahoma. SouthĬooler-than-normal conditions dominated the region with departures of 10-15 degrees below normal common in the region. ![]() A few pockets in northern and southwestern Alabama had abnormally dry and moderate drought improved this week as well. Much of eastern Tennessee had continued improvement to the drought status, with more improvements made this week with a full category improvement in the east as well as some reduction of extreme drought in the west. Moderate drought was eliminated from South Carolina and into northeastern Georgia based on the last several weeks. A reassessment of conditions over Virgina allowed for some reduction of abnormally dry conditions. Earlier this week, portions of northern Alabama still had ice remaining on the landscape and some discussions took place that this was the biggest cold outbreak since the mid-1990s. Temperatures were below normal for all areas outside of south Florida, and the greatest departures were over Tennessee with areas up to 25 degrees below normal for the week. SoutheastĪ dry week for the region outside of some isolated showers in southern and eastern Florida. There were no changes to the drought depiction for this week for this region. Drought still remains over western New York and in the coastal areas of Massachusetts where hydrological impacts remain. Even though this week was dry for the region, the recent wetter pattern has not changed conditions much at all, especially with the cooler temperatures. Temperatures were below normal for all of the region outside of northern Maine, with the greatest departures over Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia where departures were 12-15 degrees below normal. These locations will be assessed on next week’s map. ![]() The end of the period had an active pattern again developing in the southern Plains and into the South where widespread precipitation was anticipated after the data cutoff for this week. In most instances, drought remains but the data allowed for intensities to be reduced. With an active pattern through the central Plains into the Midwest the past few weeks, a reassessment of drought indicators was done in many locations this week to examine drought intensity levels and adjust where the data supported it. The warmer-than-normal temperatures have been a challenge for snow accumulation with many locations, especially in the northern Rockies, having a very challenging start to the snow accumulation season. ![]() The warm winter continued in the West with temperatures 5-10 degrees above normal over a majority of the region. The greatest departures from normal were over Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern portions of Alabama and Mississippi where readings were 20-25 degrees below normal. Temperatures were well below normal for most locations east of the Rocky Mountains, where departures were 5 degrees or more below normal for most areas. The current period was dry over most of the country with the greatest amount of precipitation occurring along the west coast and from east Texas into Arkansas.
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