Streaks are made to be broken, and the latest drought “streak” ends on a bit of a technicality after the latest U.S. Drought Monitor updates were released May 3.
The streak in question revolves around the percentage of the U.S. covered in drought on a week-to-week basis.
This percentage peaked in late January, hitting a multiyear high of more than 67%, only to fall for 12 consecutive weeks afterward, all the way down to 42.49% as of April 24.
The current map still showcases an ugly band of dark red across the Southern Plains and Southwest, indicating areas categorized as D3 (extreme) or D4 (exceptional drought – the most severe two categories.
In Oklahoma, more than a third (34.8%) of the state is suffering from D3 or D4 drought.
The Southern Plains did undergo some light improvements last week, according to David Simeral, a climatologist with the Desert Research Institute in Nevada.
“In the southern Plains, light shower activity provided some minor relief to dry pasture and rangelands as well as helped to reduce wildlife danger,” he says.
“In Texas, some isolated heavy rainfall activity brought relief to the western Panhandle and Trans-Pecos region.” Some areas further west also received some drought-quenching rainfall last week, but they didn’t help some of the most direly affected areas, Simeral says.
Looking ahead, the latest seven-day cumulative precipitation maps from NOAA suggest plenty of more moisture will reach the eastern half of the country over the next week, with some much-needed moisture arriving in parts of the Southern Plains as well.
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