The excess rainfall helped alleviate abnormally dry and drought conditions in parts of eastern Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
This week’s map reflects a one-category improvement in conditions in the drought/abnormally dry areas of South Carolina.
Recent rains also resulted in improvements to the drought/abnormally dry areas in northern and central Georgia as streamflow and soil moisture conditions improved.
In the southern part of the state, moderate (D1) and severe drought (D2) were reduced to areas that continue to show lingering dryness at 60- to 90-day timescales.
Extreme drought (D3) was removed and some areas near the coasts saw two-category improvements as recent rains totaled up to 7 inches.
Meanwhile, above-average rainfall in the eastern part of the state resulted in a reduction in the abnormally dry (D0) area.
Abnormally dry (D0) areas crept northward into parts of southern Oklahoma in response to precipitation deficits and corresponding dry soils and vegetation.
Pasture and crop conditions further deteriorated, resulting in the westward expansion of abnormal dryness (D0) and the introduction of moderate drought (D1) in the eastern part of the state.
Looking Ahead The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center forecast calls for continued rain June 7-14 across the South and eastern portions of the United States.
Author(s): Deborah Bathke, National Drought Mitigation Center Dryness Categories D0 … Abnormally Dry … used for areas showing dryness but not yet in drought, or for areas recovering from drought.