As of Nov. 8, 85% of the U.S. was experiencing abnormal dryness/drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, unchanged from the previous week. But the Drought Monitor noted, “A continued wet pattern over the Pacific Northwest as well as portions of the Midwest has allowed for continued improvement to drought intensities, especially in areas that are receiving abundant precipitation. Dryness continues to build over eastern portions of the Midwest and into the Southeast as well as along the Gulf Coast.”
USDA estimates the drought footprint covers 74% of winter wheat acres (unchanged from last week).
In HRW areas, dryness/drought covers 83% of Colorado (unchanged), 100% of Kansas (unchanged), 90% of Montana (unchanged), 100% of Nebraska (unchanged), 100% of Oklahoma (unchanged), 100% of South Dakota (unchanged) and 90% of Texas (down 2 points).
In SRW areas, dryness/drought covers 87% of Missouri (down 6 points), 75% of Illinois (down 4 points), 98% of Indiana (unchanged), 88% of Ohio (up 2 points), 37% of Michigan (down 3 points), 100% of Kentucky (up 1 point) and 98% of Tennessee (unchanged).
For the Plains, the Drought Monitor stated: “Much of the High Plains remained dry this week with only portions of southeast Nebraska and eastern Kansas recording above-normal precipitation. Temperatures were mostly above normal for the area, but western portions were normal to slightly below this week, with the warmest temperatures over eastern Kansas where departures were 6-9 degrees above normal. With the continued dryness, most of the changes were worsening drought intensities. As the autumn remained dry over much of Nebraska, expansions were made to extreme and exceptional drought in the northeast and western parts of the state. Western Kansas, eastern Colorado and eastern Wyoming also had expansions of severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions. Much of eastern and central Kansas saw improvement from several inches of rain, which lead to the reduction of all drought intensities (including the extreme and exceptional areas in the southern portion of the state) and the removal of extreme drought in the northeast.”
Across the Midwest, the Drought Monitor noted: “A stark contrast in precipitation appears over the region where some areas were impacted by a strong frontal passage that brought with it excessive rain for this time of year. Those areas that missed out continued to be dry. From Wisconsin into Iowa and Missouri, the greatest rains occurred with over 200% of normal precipitation recorded during the week. Dry conditions dominated the Ohio River Valley as well as the Upper Midwest where the dryness has been mounting during autumn. Dryness allowed for degradation of drought intensities over Ohio, eastern Kentucky and central Indiana. Further degradation was observed over much of Minnesota again this week. Full category improvements to the drought intensities were made over western Kentucky, southern and northwest Missouri, central and eastern Iowa, and much of Wisconsin. Moderate drought was also reduced in northern Illinois with the recent rains. Extreme drought was eliminated from most of southeast Missouri as well as western Kentucky.”
In the South, the Drought Monitor noted: “Temperatures over the region were well above normal, with departures of 6-9 degrees above normal during the week. Only areas of the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma were near normal. The wettest areas of the region were in eastern Oklahoma, northeast and south Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, where some areas recorded over 200% of normal rain this week. Much of central and west Texas and central Oklahoma missed out on any rains this week. A full category improvement to the drought intensities was made over much of Arkansas, western Louisiana, and eastern Texas. Severe drought was expanded over portions of southern Louisiana where much of the recent rain has missed. Drought intensities were expanded slightly in northeast Oklahoma and central portions of Texas due to a mixture of short- and long-term drought issues.”