Heeeeeeeeere's The Drought Monitor - Back And Uglier Than Ever

[hatrack]

EDIT

The Southwest: No relief this week, as dry conditions prevailed. More than half of New Mexico has a 4-month precipitation (Nov-Feb) total in the 1st to 3rd percentile range. With the dry conditions, fires have become a threat to much of the state. The D2 and D3 conditions were expanded eastward, highlighting the parts of New Mexico showing the most impacts from the drought conditions. The fire threat around Ruidoso, New Mexico, is due in part to dry conditions going back into the 1990s. Ruidoso has not had an above-normal precipitation year since 1997. With an outlook for a maximum of 20 percent of normal flow in the Rio Ruidoso, no flow in the Rio Bonito, and the Sierra Blanca SNOTEL site (above 10,000 feet elevation) having no snowpack, this part of New Mexico is approaching exceptional drought status. In southern California, heavy rains helped to improve the D0 conditions. With all the rain in California in the last week and for the last several weeks, the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley has missed out on almost all of these events.

The Plains, Delta, and Corn Belt: Conditions across the Plains, Midwest, and Delta region have continued to be dry overall. Parts of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska picked up some rain last week, but amounts were generally less than one inch. These rains helped to reduce the grass fire threat that has plagued the entire region. D1 conditions were expanded in Missouri and Illinois; minimal soil moisture, water supplies, and low streamflows are the main concerns. Portions of western Illinois have had reports of shallow wells going dry in several counties from the extreme dryness. In south central Missouri, well drillers are reporting an increasing number of wells going dry or experiencing reduced pressure. New wells in this region are being drilled to 450 feet, compared to 300-350 feet in the past. Near Branson, a drilling company reported drilling two new wells at depths of 925 feet and 960 feet, respectively. In northern Arkansas, the D1 and D2 regions were expanded as reservoirs and lakes continue to show impacts from drought conditions. In southwest Kansas, the D1 conditions were pushed farther north as streamflows and soil moisture conditions declined. Topsoil moisture was rated at 85 percent very short in southwest Kansas by the United States Department of Agriculture survey. D2 conditions in Oklahoma were expanded to include the entire panhandle. Some stations in this part of Oklahoma have now gone more than 5 months with no rain event totaling more than 0.10 inches of rain.

EDIT

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html