California and National Drought Summary for March 7, 2017 Summary March 9, 2017 – Active weather across the Midwest during the beginning and end of the current period brought rain and severe storms over the region.
The driest areas of the Southeast did pick up some precipitation, but most areas were normal to slightly below normal for the week.
The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic The impact of the recent precipitation over the last several weeks allowed for the extreme drought conditions to be removed from Connecticut this week.
Long-term conditions are still very dry, but the region has seen a response from the impact of melting snow and rain, which allowed for the improvements to be made.
Over northern Alabama, severe drought conditions were improved to moderate drought as 2-3 inches of rain centered over Morgan County at the end of the week allowed for improvements.
With the recent rains, abnormally dry conditions were removed over much of Indiana and portions of eastern Illinois and northern Kentucky.
South Rains over southern Texas allowed for improvements to moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions.
West Cooler than normal conditions dominated the West, with precipitation over the coastal regions and into the Southwest.
Several improvements were made this week in response to not only recent precipitation but also precipitation over the last several months.
Author(s): Brian Fuchs, 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.

From El Nino Drought to Floods, Zimbabwe’s Double Trouble.
Africa, Aid, Climate Change, Combating Desertification and Drought, Development & Aid, Environment, Featured, Food & Agriculture, Headlines, Health, Humanitarian Emergencies, Poverty & SDGs, Water & Sanitation HARARE, Mar 3 2017 (IPS) – Dairai Churu, 53, sits with his chin cupped in his palms next to mounds of rubble from his destroyed makeshift home in the Caledonia informal settlement approximately 30 kilometers east of Harare, thanks to the floods that have inundated Zimbabwe since the end of last year.
From 2015 to mid-2016, the El Nino-induced drought also hit him hard, rendering his entire family hungry.
All my crops in 2015 were wiped out by the El Nino heat and this year came the floods, which also suffocated all my maize and it means another drought for me and my family,” Churu told IPS.
I don’t know what else to say,” Churu said.
With drought amidst the floods across many parts of this Southern African nation, the Poverty Reduction Forum Trust (PRFT) has been on record in the media here saying most Zimbabwean urban residents are relying on urban agriculture for sustenance owing to poverty.
This year’s floods, which are a direct effect of the El Nino weather, are the worst in 35 years and are now even worsening and bearing impacts on farming, health and livelihoods in developing countries like Zimbabwe,” Eldred Nhemachema, a meteorological expert based in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, told IPS.
Consequently, this Southern African nation this year declared a national emergency, as harvests here face devastation from the floods resulting in soaring food prices countrywide, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Based on this year’s February update from the country’s Department of Civil Protection, at least 117 people died since the beginning of the rainy season in October last year.
And for many Zimbabweans like Churu, who were earlier hit by the El Nino-induced drought, it is now double trouble.

Rain and thunderstorms will frequent much of South America this autumn as wet weather occurs from Argentina to parts of Colombia and Venezuela.
Drought to improve in Colombia, Venezuela but worsen in northeastern Brazil The drought gripping Colombia and Venezuela will improve with a wet pattern continuing into autumn.
This includes helping to raise the water level at the Guri Dam, one of the largest water reservoirs on Earth.
While rain helps to improve the drought in Colombia and Venezuela, dry weather will cause drought conditions to worsen in Brazil.
Some rain is expected to move over these areas throughout the season; however, below-normal rainfall will cause the drought to persist and possibly worsen.
Rounds of rain, thunderstorms to slam Argentina to southern Brazil An active weather pattern is on tap for much of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil this season as waves of rain and thunderstorms move across the region.
“It seems like there will be an active weather pattern with no prolonged dry periods and near- to above-normal rainfall,” Miller said.
The threat for thunderstorms will be mainly early in the season before gradually tapering off as the fronts deliver steadier rain instead, AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said.
Most of Chile should see near-normal rainfall, but a few pockets could receive above-normal rainfall, Miller added.
Warm, dry weather is also on tap for southern Argentina and southern Peru.