Poof!
Abundant winter and spring rains have decimated large regions of drought that afflicted the nation.
In October, the start of the water year, drought covered 84 percent of the Golden State.
Storm after storm crashed into the West Coast off the Pacific Ocean during the winter and spring months, unloading copious amounts of low elevation rain and high elevation snow.
Recall that in the fall, severe drought afflicted portions of Alabama, Georgia, the western Carolinas and Tennessee, intensifying wildfires that erupted in the region.
Only patchy areas of drought now remain in the Lower 48, most notably in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, an area from central Virginia to central Maryland, including the District, and extreme southwest Arizona and Southern California.
But the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts “likely removal” of the drought in Florida in the summer because of frequent sea breeze thunderstorms that tend to form in the afternoon.
This area may become prone to wildfires as the summer wears on — much like it was last year.
While drought is all but gone in most other parts of the United States, unusually wet conditions have replaced it.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Extremes Index, which expresses the percentage of the nation dealing with abnormal weather, ranks highest in recorded history (for the period spanning January to March).

However, the heaviest downpours were confined to eastern areas least affected by drought and least at risk of wildfires.
One rain gauge in Palm Beach County measured 2.81 inches of precipitation for the 24 hours that ended at 7 a.m. Monday, the South Florida Water Management District said.
Other readings from gauges in eastern and central parts of the county included 2.7, 2.64 and 2.61 inches.
“We did have some significant rainfall in Palm Beach County,” said Randy Smith, spokesman at the Water Management District.
“There are still rainfall deficits, but the timing was critical.” Even after a wet weekend, much of the region remains 7 inches to 9 inches below typical dry-season rainfall totals, Smith said.
Inland parts of Palm Beach County are in “moderate drought” or “severe drought.” In contrast to the deluge on the coast, Belle Glade, Pahokee and nearby areas received only a few drops of rain on Sunday.
The South Florida Water Management District on April 13 issued a water shortage order, a warning that mandatory cuts might be next.
Rick Scott said a 5,500-acre wildfire in Collier County was 50 percent contained.
However, Zierden noted that the heaviest rainfall hit coastal areas, not the regions with the greatest risk of wildfires.
For the period from Oct. 1 through April 12, a rain gauge at Palm Beach International Airport showed just 13.91 inches of rain, 11.62 inches below normal dry-season rainfall, the National Weather Service said.

Rainfall into Sunday night will help to moisten dry vegetation and put a damper on fires and smoke in the area.
Isolated showers and thunderstorms could linger on Monday.
Moisture will then lift northward up the East Coast into the middle of the week, opening the door for dry air to filter across the Sunshine State and setting the stage for another prolonged stretch of rain-free conditions.
“Warm and dry conditions will dominate the weather pattern across the state throughout the balance of April,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Lada said.
Afternoon high temperatures will soar into the lower and middle 90s F across the peninsula by Friday.
Records will be challenged or broken.
The blazing sunshine will further dry out vegetation, adding fuel to ongoing or new blazes.
Those with respiratory illnesses may need to stay indoors.
Since Jan. 1, more than 1,600 wildfires have burned over 88,000 acres.
From Jan. 17 to April 18, severe drought conditions have grown from 0 percent to over 34 percent.

Gov.
Jerry Brown recently declared California’s brutal five-year drought to be over.
Many weeks of powerful storm systems brought heavy rain to the coasts and valleys of California while burying the mountains in 30 or more feet of snow.
The way weather patterns usually work, when one region receives excessive moisture, another is deprived .
Much of the Southeast began slipping into drought in early fall and much of it remains dry, despite some intense downpours around Atlanta last week that scrambled air travel .
Virginia has been on the periphery of this dryness, falling into light to moderate drought through mid- to late fall, then bouncing in and out a bit through the winter.
Roanoke got 0.81 inch of rain early last week, then another third of an inch late in the week.
Getting about 0.8 inch a week would keep us level with our norm.
Central U.S. high pressure may prevent this from happening for several days.
It remains to be seen whether we lapse into a more severe drought that lasts through the summer.

The surface water supply around the state is in good shape, but it’s the groundwater that worries people like Tom Hawley, a meteorologist and hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Most of the southern half of the state is now considered to be in a moderate drought, according to the latest report released on April 4 by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
While an active weather pattern brought heavy snow and rain to the region in recent weeks to put a dent in the drought, Hawley said things are about to change.
"I think, over the next couple of weeks, we’re looking at below-normal precipitation.
"I don’t like to see below-normal precipitation here in April.
Raymond town officials issued a notice a couple of weeks ago, telling residents that the drought isn’t over and that it would take three to six months of abnormally high rainfall to make up the 10- to 15-inch precipitation deficit and recharge aquifers.
"In the span of three weeks, southern New Hampshire has moved from a severe drought to a moderate drought.
Those communities with surface water supplies are in a much better position to rescind their water bans," he said.
An outdoor water ban adopted last fall also remains in effect in Newport, one of the towns in Sullivan County where severe drought conditions persist.
Exeter adopted mandatory outdoor water restrictions and offered free water conservation kits to residents.

"The reservoir systems are in very good shape, with some nearing 100 percent capacity," he added.
"We evaluate the drought indicators at the beginning of each week, so when we look at the indicators on Monday it will include all the rain" that New Jersey received during the past week, he said.
Some trouble spots Although most reservoirs in North Jersey are faring well, ranging from 93 to 100 percent of their capacity, two large reservoirs in Central Jersey remain below average for this time of year, according to Assistant New Jersey State Climatologist Mathieu Gerbush at Rutgers University.
The Spruce Run Reservoir is currently at 65.6 percent capacity and the Round Valley Reservoir is at 71.8 percent capacity, Gerbush said.
If flows are near average, then we know groundwater has responded well and that last lingering drought indicator will be diminished or in many spots gone," Robinson said.
Status of other reservoirs As of April 3, the overall water storage level of 12 of North Jersey’s biggest reservoirs was at about 94 percent capacity, which is slightly above average for early April, according to state DEP data.
Here’s a breakdown of the latest levels reported at each of the four major water suppliers in North Jersey: The Suez-NJ System, which has three reservoirs in Bergen County, is now at 100 percent of its capacity, after being down to about 60 percent in January and February, then up to 90 percent on March 31.
The Newark Water Department’s five reservoirs are now at about 95 percent of their capacity, after being down as low as 52 percent on Nov. 30, 2016.
The North Jersey District Water Supply Commission’s two reservoirs are at about 93 percent of their capacity, after dropping to less than 50 percent in September, October and November last year.
The Jersey City Water Department’s two reservoirs are at about 93 percent of their capacity, after dropping to less than 60 percent in November 2016.

Watch where you swim in wet weather.
As rain continues across the east coast of Australia, the Eurobodalla Shire Council is reminding residents to avoid swimming at the beach, lake or river during and immediately after wet weather.
There were reports that Narooma received rain on 24 days last month and heavy falls were experienced on Monday with more rain falling Tuesday morning.
Swimming is not recommended during and at least one day after heavy rain at ocean beaches, and for three days at estuarine swimming areas because the waterways may be polluted.
People should avoid swimming if there are signs of water pollution such as discoloured water, fast flowing or strong smelling drains, or street litter such as drinking straws, food wrappers or leaves floating in the water or on the tide line.
Murky or discoloured water often hides debris like logs and branches that can cause injury.
Council also warns that stormwater drains or lagoon openings can be sources of stormwater pollution and are also best avoided during and immediately after heavy rain.
While South East NSW has escaped the major flooding that hit our northern neighbours so hard, it is timely to repeat NSW SES advice not to walk, ride or drive in floodwater.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Sugar output in Tamil Nadu, one of India’s main sugar producing states, is likely to fall by more than a third in the new season beginning October, hit by the worst drought in more than a century.
Tamil Nadu, India’s fourth biggest sugar producer, is likely produce 600,000 tonnes in the 2017/18 season, down from around 1 million tonnes in the current season to September 2017, M. Manickam, executive chairman of Sakthi Sugars, said.
Tamil Nadu’s sugar mills produced 1.36 million tonnes of sugar in 2015/16.
The drought has also hit other parts of southern India, forcing hundreds of farmers to travel to New Delhi to protest and seek government help.
Sugar producers from Tamil Nadu, hit by the drought and saddled with big debts, put live rats in their mouths and carried the skulls of farmers believed to have committed suicide at a New Delhi protest last week, calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save them from starvation.
The farmers, protesting near parliament in New Delhi, suffered crop losses last year, and they had to take on more loans to survive.
India as a whole will produce 20.3 million tonnes of sugar in the year to September 2017, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said last month, 5 percent lower than a previous forecast.
In the last two years, back-to-back droughts have ravaged the cane crop in the western state of Maharashtra, the country’s top sugar producer.
The monsoon, which delivers 70 percent of India’s annual rainfall, is critical for the country’s farmers and their rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybean crops because nearly half of its farmland lacks irrigation.
Other than sugar, Tamil Nadu’s cotton production in 2016/17 is likely to fall by 21 percent to 550,000 bales, according to the Cotton Association of India.

New Mexico hit by ‘flash drought’ weather phenomenon.
ALBUQUERQUE – Across New Mexico, unusually warm March weather and virtually no rain for a month prompted dust storms that closed highways, warnings for some to stay inside and rapid mountain snow melting that could threaten drinking water supplies and farmers’ irrigation needs.
This weather phenomenon – driven by a quick increase in temperatures and a lack of precipitation resulting in bone-dry soil – is called a flash drought.
In New Mexico, the flash drought is ending as quickly as it began because of the recent arrival of rain.
That left a swath of New Mexico’s eastern plains and parts of the Rio Grande Valley in central and southern New Mexico with no moisture in the soil’s top lawyers.
“Things went dry and went dry very fast,” Fontenot said.
Flash droughts typically aren’t severe, but Fontenot said the level of damage that ensues depends on when the phenomenon strikes.
The dry, windy conditions also fueled devastating wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, charring hundreds of square miles and killing four people.
The warm weather prompted faster-than-normal snowmelt atop New Mexico mountains that supply key drinking water supplies and irrigation resources for farmers.
It’s also expected to persist in southwestern Arizona and in parts of southern California as well as parts of Colorado and Oklahoma.

“A lot of bad luck”: Drought and severe weather fuels record Oklahoma wildfires.
Wildfires fueled by gusting winds, hot, dry weather, and desiccated plant life have burned nearly 900,000 acres of Oklahoma so far this year, a record, as well as parts of Kansas and Texas.
But this season has been particularly active because of drought conditions that have creeped up during the winter, driven by record warm temperatures and a lack of precipitation.
Climate change is expected to impact many of the factors, such as precipitation, that can contribute to wildfires.
“A lot of bad luck” While this time of year is typically the main wildfire season for Oklahoma and surrounding areas, this season has seen a record-breaking amount of land scorched by 133 large wildfires ignited in the Panhandle and eastern Oklahoma, with conditions exacerbated by a perfect storm of ideal fire weather and a deepening drought.
That drought has developed due to a combination of exceptionally warm fall and winter temperatures and a lack of precipitation.
October through February was the warmest on record for Oklahoma; on Feb. 11, temperatures in Magnum, in the southwest of the state, hit 99°F (37°C), tying the highest winter temperature ever recorded in the state.
“That’s when we saw the large leap in drought conditions, when normally we wouldn’t see that,” state climatologist Gary McManus said.
Hot, dry, windy conditions are perfect for wildfires to develop, and that’s exactly what Oklahoma has periodically seen in recent weeks, first in the Panhandle and more recently across the eastern half of the state.
Future fire risk Like many other natural disasters that strike, this record fire activity raises the question of how climate change may impact wildfire risk in the future.