Matt Makens

Although the spring and early summer saw drought conditions improve for Colorado
to Texas, that isn't the case anymore as drought has increased during the past
two months. This image is the amount of change during the past eight weeks.

The good news is that parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota have seen improvement.

Here is the latest drought monitor:

Of course, that monitor is based on months and months worth of dryness. When you
look at just the precipitation in the past 60 days, you'll spot the deficits
responsible for the return of moderate and severe conditions from Colorado to
Texas. 

Let's expand on this and look at the precipitation anomaly since the year
started.

Despite periodic wetness that many regions have had throughout the year, the
overall picture is one of drought persistence. Southern California, West Texas
and Montana have some of the driest numbers for 2021.

If you read through the winter outlook, you know that the drought signal will
continue for quite some time. 

Winter outlook 2021 - 2022In the early part of September we released our
initial
long range outlook
[https://www.weather5280.com/2021/09/13/the-winter-outlook-for-fall-2021-through-spring-2022]
for the cold season which is now upon us. As promised, today we revisit that
post a bit, will see what’s changed and what’s stayed …Brendan HebertonOct 25,
2021Weather5280
[https://www.weather5280.com/2021/10/25/winter-outlook-2021-2022]La Niña is here
for the winter and that means the majority of the country will be drier than
average for months to come.

Let's look at estimated precipitation (in terms of normal) for the month ahead:

Drier than average conditions exist across most of the country.

With a map like that expected to be seen again in December and January, you know
drought growth will continue for a lot us, especially those of us between
Colorado to Texas.

The light at the end of the tunnel will be in the form of El Niño, which will
attempt to return later in 2022. With that, it is possible wetter conditions
will replace (at least for a time) these dry conditions. It's something to hope
for anyway.

Drought growth continues from Colorado to Texas