Recent Heavy Rain Has Improved Drought

In the Midwest, another system pushed through over the weekend and brought widespread showers and thunderstorms as well as heavy rain. The amounts should continue to improve what remains of the drought in the region. After a few quiet days, a system will move through with a front on Wednesday and Thursday. That front should stall across the west and continue showers into the weekend. Some areas may be getting a little too wet and could use more of a break, but soil moisture is improving.

In the Northern Plains, another system went through over the weekend and brought heavy snow to the Dakotas. Though much of that has already melted, there is still a decent batch of snow in North Dakota. A couple of systems will bring through scattered showers this week, but not a lot of accumulation. That will help some areas drain from excess moisture.

In the Central and Southern Plains, a system continued heavy rain across the east over the weekend, improving soil moisture and easing drought for portions of the region. The west continued to see much drier conditions as drought continues to get worse there. After a couple of quieter days early this week, a front is forecast to stall out on Thursday and produce batches of showers across the region through early next week. That should help to improve soil moisture for some areas, though showers and storms are likely to come in batches that may miss some areas.

In the Delta, a front went through over the weekend with widespread showers and thunderstorms. Some heavy rain should improve soil moisture and ease drought conditions slightly, but drought remains very well entrenched, and much more rain is needed. This week, some isolated showers may develop at times, but the region is likely to be drier, unfavorable for the continued drought.

In the Southeast U.S., a front went through over the weekend with scattered showers. They were heavy in some instances, which will help to improve soil moisture slightly in some areas. But drought continues to be widespread and deep across most of the region. Drier weather this week will not help with any drought improvement.

In the Western U.S., a system went through late last week and brought widespread precipitation to much of the region, especially in the north. Drought continues to be a major issue for the region, however, and more precipitation is needed. It will be quiet early this week, but a slow-moving storm system will start to bring showers to the West Coast on Thursday and spread through much of the region through the weekend and into Monday. The showers may be widespread, but the amounts may only be locally heavy. Still, the coming system should help to improve the drought in some areas.

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