SNOW MISSES DROUGHT-STRICKEN REGION, DROUGHT MONITOR SHOWS

Heavy precipitation covered the southern Ohio Valley and the lower Mississippi Valley this past week, areas not in dryness or drought, according to this week’s Drought Monitor.

MIDWEST

Between 0.5 and 3.0 inches of precipitation, in the form of snow, was recorded across Kentucky and the Ohio Valley while 0.5 to 1.5 inches – mostly in the form of snow – fell on the northern half of Minnesota and much of the Great Lakes region, the Drought Monitor report shows.

“Light precipitation (at best) fell elsewhere. The heaviest precipitation fell on areas not currently in dryness or drought, so improvement was limited to northern reaches of the Great Lakes and adjacent areas. Much of the region was dry, but given the time of year lowering both natural and human water demand, only small patches of deterioration were noted in northwestern Iowa and near the Missouri/Iowa/Illinois triple point,” authors of the Drought Monitor stated.

HIGH PLAINS

Substantial precipitation was generally restricted to higher-elevation areas in Wyoming and Colorado. Farther east in the Plains States, only the northern and southern portions of the region recorded more than 0.2 inch.

“Some deterioration was introduced in southern Kansas where temperatures were the highest, but other areas from the Dakotas southward remained unchanged. Heavy precipitation has been common across the higher elevations of central and northern Colorado in the past couple of months. Some of these mountains received several inches more than normal precipitation in the last 90 days, resulting in abundant snowpack that prompted drought improvement through this region. Other areas were unchanged,” authors of the Drought Monitor stated.

LOOKING FORWARD

This week should bring more snow to parts of the East and Southeast, according to the Drought Monitor report.

“A broad area from Alabama and Georgia northward through the Carolinas, Virginia, and the Northeastern coastline should get over an inch, with scattered areas up to 2 inches in the southern Appalachians, near the Georgia/Alabama border, and in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, moderate precipitation of generally 0.5 to 1.0 inch is forecast across the interior Northeast and New England, and also in a swath from central North Dakota southeastward through Iowa and northern Missouri,” Drought Monitor authors stated.