Matt Makens

The latest drought monitor continues to show the ongoing issues for the Four
Corners region and the continued Extreme Drought over western Kansas and parts
of Texas.

Drought numbers decreased for some. Those improved areas are in Southwest Utah,
across Arizona, parts of New Mexico, North Carolina, and Virginia.



Let's check the recent conditions via The National Drought Mitigation Center,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln:

Summary

> A tandem of winter storms impacted the country during the week, bringing cold
temperatures, heavy snow, and strong winds to the mountainous areas of the west,
northern Plains, upper Midwest, and Northeast. Lower elevations and latitudes
dealt with a combination of weather impacts, including moderate to heavy
rainfall in the Southwest, showers and thunderstorms across the South and lower
Midwest, and freezing rain to the Mid-Atlantic regions. Another week of
above-normal precipitation in the Southwest continued to alleviate the effects
of a sub-par monsoon season. In contrast, relatively little precipitation fell
in the Northwest, continuing dryness-related impacts such as low streamflow, dry
soils, and poor snowpack. Farther east, rain continued to chip away at lingering
dryness in the southern Ohio River Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and parts of the
Southeast while rainfall amounts in Gulf Coast states were generally not enough
to stave off developing dryness.


The precipitation for the past two weeks is quite wet for the southwest and
through a large section of the corn belt. This is the percent of normal
precipitation:


Whereas the past 30 days isn't as robust except for the Southwest:


The precipitation outlook for the next week, running through the 12th) is
favorable for the far western US and the Appalachians to the Great Lakes. The
Nation's midsection is likely to be drier than average:

The amount of snow for the next seven days favors the Rockies and Sierras:


And, looking at the week after we see a consensus on wetter than average
conditions across the northern Rockies and east coast but likely drier than
average conditions across California:



For the next month, we see a trend toward much drier than average conditions for
the Northwest and California, as well as much of the Nation's midsection. The
Southeast and Southern Rockies are more likely to see wetter than normal
conditions.

Drought update & outlook: Thursday December 5th, 2019