Drought conditions increase in lower Midwest

The November 3rd drought monitor shows 69.1% of the U.S. is experiencing abnormal dryness or drought, down 3.5% from the previous week, with 44.0% in D1 level drought or higher, down 5.5%.Currently 19% (down 2%) of corn acres are in D1-D4 drought with 28% (unchanged) of soybean acres, and 48% (down 2%) of winter wheat acres also impacted. For livestock, 38% (down 2%) of the U.S.cattle herd is in D1-D4 drought conditions with 24% (down 2%) of dairy cattle also in drought.

Precipitation continued to fall in the southwestern U.S., with some of that rainfall making its way into the Southern Plains as well. Areas in HRW country received pockets of rainfall totaling 1 to 2 inches across the region. Meanwhile drought continued to tick up in the mid-south states of Kentucky and Tennessee, with minor drought now becoming present in southern Illinois and Indiana as well. Rains in the Southeast yesterday are not reflected on the map, as they occurred after the weekly data cutoff for the drought monitor.

The National Weather Service expects mostly dry conditions for the next five days, with isolated chances for rain in the east coast to occur. The longer term 7 to 10 day outlook sees another system of rainfall likely to move into the Pacific Coast, centered over California. Temperatures are expected to drop across most of the continental U.S. in the coming week as well, returning closer to seasonally normal levels.

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