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Storminess Curbs Drought in Northern Tier, Florida
UPDATED May 17, 2013
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Chad Merrill | An active weather pattern helped curb growing drought problems in the Northeast, Florida and northern Plains while the West continues to see mounting precipitation deficits.
Heavy rain from a potent storm dropped 2 to 5 inches of rain from central West Virginia to central Maine. This moisture erased the building deficit south and west of New York City. Farther south, welcome rain near Lake Okeechobee and along the northern peninsula`s Gulf Coast helped erase the dryness mounting in these parts of Florida. The eastern Carolinas and southeastern Virginia weren`t so lucky; only a few tenths of an inch were registered.
Leaps and strides were made in the existing drought across the northern tier. Rainfall amounts up to 2 inches pelted the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley, allowing significant drought improvement to occur from southwestern Minnesota to eastern Nebraska.
It was a different story farther south through the Plains. Rainfall was highly scattered across the southern Plains with amounts ranging from a few tenths to more than 2 inches from Kansas to Texas. Only minor changes were noted in the latest drought depiction, with a few highlights being southern Texas and northern Kansas.
On the contrary, lack of rain since mid-February in the Red River Valley, northeastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas allowed moderate drought to grow here.
West of the Mississippi River, recent storminess helped chip away at the moderate drought in central and north-central Colorado. Lack of snowpack combined with below-average precipitation in the last 6 months has taken a toll on southwestern Montana and the Idaho Panhandle.
Looking ahead, the heaviest rain through early next week will miss the areas that need it the most such as the central and southern Plains, Southwest, California and the Great Basin. On the other hand, several inches of rain expected along the northern tier will chip away at the drought from Montana into Minnesota.
In the coming week, rain will be scattered along the East Coast, likely missing northern New England where moderate drought extends from Connecticut into southern Vermont and New Hampshire.
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor
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