Winter storm brings drought relief to eastern U.S.

The January 27th drought monitor shows 68% of the U.S. is experiencing abnormal dryness or drought, down 1% from the previous week, with 43% in D1 level drought or higher, also down 1%. The US Drought Monitor tracking for crops and livestock in drought was not updated this morning. The most recent data from last week shows 29% of corn acres are in D1-D4 drought with 35% of soybean acres, and 42% of winter wheat acres also impacted. For livestock, 35% of the U.S.cattle herd is in D1-D4 drought conditions with 29% of dairy cattle also in drought.

The dominant weather event of the past week was the massive winter storm that stretched from the far southern Rocky mountains all the way to the Northeast coast, depositing a mix of snow, ice, and freezing rain along its path. Snowfall was more present in the more northern reaches of the impacted areas including the eastern corn belt. Precipitation was more mixed further south in Kentucky and Tennessee, where ice caused severe disruptions to transportation and utility services. Some livestock sales earlier this week in the areas hit hardest were cancelled due to the unpassable travel conditions. Snowfall likely arrived in time to prevent the arctic temperatures from damaging winter wheat too severely, especially in hard red winter wheat country. Concerns do remain in SRW areas to the east where less snow fell, and temperatures look to remain cold in the coming week.

The National Weather Service expects the potential for notable precipitation in the form of snowfall in the Carolina’s this weekend and sees up to five inches of rain forecast in the next week for areas around the Washington Cascades. Temperatures are expected to remain below normal along the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, with warmer weather expected in the western portions of the country.

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