Over the last 7 days, much of the country has been dry, with the most significant precipitation occurring over the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon, and northern California, reports Brian Fuchs, of the National Drought Mitigation Center in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor.
The first Nor'easter of the season made its way up along the east coast as other areas received lighter precipitation.
In the Southeast, dry conditions over the last 30-90 days prompted the introduction of D0 in North Carolina and South Carolina. In southern Alabama, D0 was expanded to the east to include portions of the Florida panhandle and to the west to include more of eastern Mississippi, Fuchs writes.
It was generally a dry week the Midwest, aiding the remainder of harvest, which has been later than usual. No drought was reported in the region as light precipitation visited the area. Abnormally dry conditions, however, were expanded this week in the northern portions of Minnesota.
In the Plains, areas of eastern Nebraska, northeast Kansas, western Nebraska, north central Colorado, northwest Wyoming and southeastern South Dakota did see precipitation amounts up to 200% of normal for the week.
Related: Harvest Advances, Wheat Off To Good Start in USDA Crop Progress Report
Previous dry and warm weather, however, could start to impact the winter wheat in the region, Fuchs said. In northeast South Dakota, abnormally dry conditions were expanded and a small area of moderate drought was introduced based upon the dryness over the last 2-3 months.
Most of the South was dry, though drought expansions were minimal in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
In Texas, Fuchs says D4 was expanded in the northern part of the state, D0 was introduced in the Big Bend region, D2 was expanded in the central portion of the state, D1 was expanded in the south and D0 was expanded in the east. In Oklahoma, D4 was expanded in the southwest, while D3 and D2 were expanded in the central portions of the state.
A series of storms moved across the Pacific Northwest, bringing precipitation, Fuchs said. Most of the precipitation was in and along the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon, and northern California, but some of this moisture did make it into Idaho and Montana.
Improvements were made over southwest Oregon, where D0 and D1 conditions were improved. In southwest Montana, D0 and D1 conditions also were improved based on the recent wet pattern, and some D0 was removed over the eastern panhandle of Idaho.
Source: Brian Fuchs, National Drought Mitigation Center/The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced in partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.