The recent dry weather, very low groundwater and streamflow and mounting long-term precipitation deficits in central Texas and parts of the Edwards Plateau led to the expansion of moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional drought in some areas. Most of the rest of Texas, and Oklahoma northwest of Interstate 44, remained mostly or completely dry. Some of this rainfall was associated with a severe thunderstorm outbreak, which was responsible for a destructive tornado that reached a maximum intensity of EF4 in Rolling Fork, Miss. Over 2 inches of rain fell across large areas of Arkansas and Tennessee, while heavier rains farther south in Louisiana and Mississippi were more scattered in nature. Parts of north-central Texas and Oklahoma (especially southeast of Interstate 44) saw moderate to heavy rain amounts from thunderstorms, exceeding an inch or two in a few spots. SouthĪside from Oklahoma and southwest Texas, near-normal or warmer-than-normal temperatures were common across much of the South region, with some locations seeing temperatures 5-10 degrees warmer than normal. Severe short-term drought increased over a large swath of the Florida Peninsula, excluding the immediate Miami area, and extreme drought developed in parts of southwest Florida where the worst fire danger existed. In Hendry and Collier counties, natural firebreaks had completely dried. In the Florida Peninsula, continued dry weather led to stress in crops and other vegetation and increased wildfire danger. Scattered rains of 2 inches or more fell in southern Alabama and southwest Georgia, leading to localized improvement in ongoing abnormal dryness and moderate drought. The eastern end of the heavy rain bands led to the removal of abnormal dryness from part of northeast South Carolina, while areas nearby to the south that missed the rain saw degrading conditions. In these regions, rainfall amounts ranged from 2 to 5 inches in some areas, with a few locally higher amounts. Heavy rains fell in parts of the Southeast region this week, especially in central Alabama, central and northern Georgia and central South Carolina. Temperatures across the region were warmer than normal this week, with most spots seeing readings from 2 to 10 degrees above normal. For reasons similar to the expansion of moderate drought in Maryland, abnormal dryness expanded across parts of central and eastern Virginia, Delaware and southeast Pennsylvania. Except for southern Maryland, where moderate drought expanded this week due to short-term precipitation deficits, decreased streamflow and increasing soil moisture shortfalls, the rest of the Northeast region remained free of drought this week. Otherwise, roughly a half inch of precipitation fell in most other areas, with some totals in the 1-2 inch range in northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Southern Virginia remained mostly dry this week, as did parts of central New England. Temperatures northeast of Virginia and West Virginia were less than 8 degrees above normal, with anomalies decreasing to a few degrees above normal in New England. NortheastĮxcept for far northern Maine, the Northeast saw warmer-than-normal temperatures this week, with the warmest weather (compared to normal) occurring in Virginia and West Virginia, where temperatures reached 8 to 10 degrees above normal. For more specific details, please refer to the regional paragraphs below. Conditions also worsened in northwest Puerto Rico and the southern Puerto Rico coast, the latter of which reported nearby forest fires. In the Mid-Atlantic, short- and long-term drought and abnormal dryness grew a bit in coverage this week. Very dry recent weather continued in the Florida Peninsula, where severe drought expanded in coverage and extreme drought developed in response to quickly increasing fire danger. Farther west in northwest Oklahoma and western Kansas, extreme and exceptional drought persisted or intensified. The western edge of heavy rains this week fell mostly along and southeast of the Interstate 44 corridor in Oklahoma and western north Texas, leading to further tightening of an already tight drought condition gradient in these areas. East of the Rockies, drought and abnormally dry conditions mostly stayed the same or worsened in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, northwest Oklahoma, and central and southeast Texas. MaAfter the wet pattern continued in parts of the West this week, building off of widespread wet and snowy weather this winter, widespread improvements were made to the drought depiction, especially in northern California, northern Nevada, southern Idaho and Utah, with scattered changes, mostly improvements, also taking place in other western states.
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