Ag Weather Forum

Drought conditions are showing improvement this fall. Here's the latest description of drought conditions from this week's Drought Monitor (October 29).--Bryce

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MIDWEST--- A fairly dry but cool week over the Midwest did not allow for any degradation this week. Improvements to D0 conditions were made in the northern sections of the lower peninsula of Michigan as well as in northwest Minnesota along the border with North Dakota.

PLAINS--- It was mainly a dry week on the Plains. Some improvements were made in North Dakota, eliminating some D0 in the eastern portion of the state. Rain at the end of the current U.S. Drought Monitor period in Kansas allowed for slight improvements to the D0 in the southern portion of the state.

SOUTH--- Some heavy rains on 10/26 brought enough precipitation to show some improvements in southeast Oklahoma, the Oklahoma panhandle, eastern Texas and into southwest Arkansas. A category improvement was made over the areas recording the most rain. Along the Mississippi River between Arkansas and Mississippi, a reassessment of conditions allowed for improvements to the D0 and D1 in both southeast Arkansas and western Mississippi.

SOUTHEAST--- After a wet summer, much of the fall has been drier than normal over a large portion of the region. As the dryness is developing, the long-term conditions are still quite wet, while the recent 60-90 days have been below normal. In response to the dryness, D0 was expanded in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina this week and as far north as Virginia.

WEST--- Some precipitation was recorded in New Mexico and into Colorado this past week but for the most part the area was dry and status on the United States Drought Monitor was unchanged for the week.

NORTHEAST--- Continuing dryness over the last 2 months is beginning to have an effect as areas of southern New England have received 50 percent or less of normal precipitation since September. As the dryness continued this week, D1 conditions were expanded to include more of Long Island and the New York City metro area as well as southern Connecticut. A new area of D1 was also introduced in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and D0 conditions were shifted to the west. In western New York, recent precipitation allowed for the removal of D0 along Lake Erie.

(ES/CZ)

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