Matt Makens

By and large there was little change to the drought situation this week, with
few improvements in the outlook.

We did see some improved conditions to the Four Corners and Southwest where the
monsoonal flow has delivered some rainfall. The Central and Northern Rockies to
Northern High Plains saw drought conditions increase during the week.

The extreme and exceptional drought acreage is the most the US has experienced
in over 20 years.

So, where's the relief?

You can see the favored areas for rainfall during the past month, largely tied
to the monsoonal seasonal pattern, for those in the Southwest and western US.

With that, will the tropical flow of moisture continue to benefit the west in
August?

To an extent we see some of that monsoonal flow help the Desert Southwest,
however it begins to decrease in coverage. We will start to see a few more
frontal systems that will spread rainfall across the plains to the Midwest
during the next two weeks.

Here we have a wetter than average two-week period in green shades.

Much needed water still missed the Dakotas and northern plains. Water, and
hopefully not too much at once, falls over portions of the northern Corn Belt.

That's for the first half of the month. A generalized outlook for the second
half of August doesn't shift too much other than to take some of that water from
the Midwest and push it to the Southeast.

Drought update & the outlook: Friday, August 6th, 2021