Drier East, Wetter West This Week

In the Midwest, it was dry over the weekend. Drier conditions continue this week, allowing soils to drain. A front will move into western areas this weekend with showers that will try to move through the region.

In the Northern Plains, it was dry over the weekend. Some spotty showers will be possible as a front moves into the region on Wednesday, with increasing coverage and intensity likely on Friday into the weekend.

In the Central and Southern Plains, it was dry and hot over the weekend, allowing soils to drain from last week’s heavy rain. Drier conditions are forecast for most areas this week, with spotty showers in a few locations. A front moving into the region on Friday may spark showers across northern portions of the region into next week.

In the Delta, it was dry over the weekend, allowing soils to drain after last week’s beneficial rainfall. Though soil moisture and water levels got a nice bump, the coming dry weather should return the area to increasing dryness.

In the Southeast, scattered showers were found toward the Atlantic over the weekend as a front stalled in the region. The front is largely offshore but may spread some rain into the area early this week, especially with Tropical Storm Imelda sitting offshore. Thankfully, that storm will stay off of the coast and out to sea this week.

In the Western U.S., a small cutoff system brought scattered showers to the Southwest over the weekend. Some isolated showers spread north into the Northwest a bit as well. That cutoff system will stick around early this week but is running out of moisture to produce rain. A trough off the West Coast will produce a few waves of showers for the Northwest this week, which should help with the drought situation there.

John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com