Short-term dryness continued to develop over southern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire, with some locales reporting locally less than 50 percent-of-normal rainfall over the past 60 days; with sub-par rainfall again this past week, D0 (Abnormal Dryness) was added to capture the driest areas over the past three months.
While heavy rain was reported in the western Carolinas, the lingering Moderate Drought (D1) and Abnormal Dryness (D0) areas received more modest amounts of rain (1-4 inches), resulting in a 1-category reduction.
South Intensifying dryness from northeastern Texas to the central Gulf Coast contrasted with heavy rain and much-needed drought relief in western portions of the region.
Over the past 30 days, many of the newly-expanded D0 areas have reported less than 25 percent-of-normal rainfall (locally less than 10 percent) with deficits over the same period totaling 2.5 to 5 inches.
In northeastern Texas, locales from Dallas eastward have reported similar shortfalls over the past 30 days, with 60-day precipitation totaling less than 70 percent of normal.
Despite the beneficial rain, Severe (D2) to Exceptional (D4) Drought persisted over much of the southern High Plains, where 6-month precipitation has totaled locally less than 25 percent of normal.
Moderate to heavy rainfall (1-4 inches, locally more) led to widespread reductions in Abnormal Dryness (D0) in central Missouri, with a report of 5.52 inches in Appleton City (north of El Dorado Springs).
High Plains The overall trend toward improving conditions in the south contrasting with increasingly dry weather in the far north continued, though some northerly areas benefited from locally heavy rain.
In southeastern Nebraska, increasingly dry conditions over the past 90 days (40-60 percent of normal) led to a modest increase of Moderate Drought (D1) southwest of Lincoln.
Beneficial rain was reported during the period in northeastern portions of Montana and Colorado, resulting in reductions of Abnormal Dryness (D0) and as well as Moderate (D1) and Severe (D2) Drought.