U.S. Drought Monitor

[cycloneye]

Here is the updated graphic and no big changes occured from last week to this week. One of the few changes is an expansion of the drought in Puerto Rico.

Precipitation deficits continued across Puerto Rico, including the high terrain. D0 (abnormal dryness) was introduced over much of the Island, along the central high lands and over southeastern portions, to reflect the below normal precipitation amounts during the past 60-days.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Last week graphic.



This week graphic.

[cycloneye]

Here is the latest update about the drought situation.





http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[cycloneye]

Here is an article about what to expect in 2013 in terms of the drought and things dont look good for a drought relieve.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-2 ... -year.html

The 2013 drought season is already off to a worse start than in 2012 or 2011—a trend that scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say is a good indicator, based on historical records, that the entire year will be drier than last year, even if spring and summer rainfall and temperatures remain the same. If rainfall decreases and temperatures rise, as climatologists are predicting will happen this year, the drought could be even more severe.

[vbhoutex]

And all of Harris County(Houston) except for a small portion of the SE corner near the coast is back into severe drought with extreme moving in from the SW, W and NW. With three days left in the month we are officially at 0.54" for the month and over 6" behind for they year. 99% of Texas is now back in drought.

[gigabite]

The severe drought areas are shown to be shrinking in this 6 week animation.

[vbhoutex]

This shows what I "knew" about our section of Harris County in SE TX. We were in extreme drought before we had the storms 2 days ago.

[SaskatchewanScreamer]

Seems so strange to see the area below us is still in exceptional drought. Praying here all the snow headed my direction takes a sudden Southern turn. Not that it will make that huge a dent down there but better there than here.

[cycloneye]

Here is a two month loop that shows a shrinking drought in parts of the Mid-West and SE.

[Stephanie]

It's good to see that the conditions are actually improving overall.

[cycloneye]

Here is the latest drought update.

[southerngale]

Wow! I didn't realize so much of Texas is in a drought. It's been quite wet here.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[cycloneye]

Let's see how 2014 will be in terms of how the drought situation will be.



http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[gigabite]

As the plasmasphere cools the opportunity for low pressure to occurs more often and there will be more global rainfall. The problem is that baseline rainfall rate has been subdued by the long term drought. Historically the rainfall rate has been increasing every five years, so unless this is the cusp of glaciation then I would expect that there is some catching up to do. Which probably means more flooding.

[Cyclenall]

The drought in California is becoming extremely severe and making the news now, just in the last few weeks its gotten far worse by leaps and bounds:

Code: Select all

Week     Date   D0-D4   D1-D4   D2-D4   D3-D4   D4
Current   1/28/2014   1.43   98.57   94.18   89.91   67.13   8.77
Last Week   1/21/2014   1.43   98.57   94.18   89.91   62.71   0.00
2 Weeks Ago  1/14/2014   1.43   98.57   94.18   89.91   62.71   0.00
3 Weeks Ago   1/7/2014   1.43   98.57   94.25   87.53   27.59   0.00
3 Months Ago   10/15/2013   2.65   97.35   95.95   84.12   11.36   0.00



There is now areas of exceptional drought on the map. The link below is a very short article about the areas that could run out of water in as little as 4 months .

Link: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/0 ... -4-months/

[cycloneye]

The lack of decent rainfall in Puerto Rico so far this year is getting to the point of a rationing of water in the coming months if things don't get better as lakes and rivers are going down in capacity.

In Puerto Rico, D0 was expanded into the northeastern quarter of the island where 90-day rainfall deficits (50 to 70 percent of normal) has resulted in streamflows drooping locally below the 10th percentile.



http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/Stat ... or.aspx?PR

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home.aspx

[cycloneye]

A Moderate drought has been declared for parts of Puerto Rico.

In Puerto Rico, deteriorating conditions warranted the expansion of abnormal dryness, and the introduction of moderate drought (D1) in south-central and northeast Puerto Rico. This is based on low stream flows, and the 60-, 30-, and 14-day DNPs and PNPs. Drought is not an issue at this time in Alaska.



http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/Stat ... or.aspx?PR

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/Narrative.aspx

[cycloneye]

In Puerto Rico, little or no rain fell along the southwestern coast, accumulating short-term deficits similar to deficiencies to the east where D0 and D1 currently exist. Since conditions are basically the same in the southwest as they are in south-central Puerto Rico, D0(S) was expanded into the southwestern portion of the island. In contrast, light to moderate rains (1-3 inches) fell across the northern two-thirds of Puerto Rico, especially in the drought-free northwest (4-8 inches), maintaining conditions across the remainder of the island.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/Stat ... or.aspx?PR

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[Hurricaneman]

I feel for you Luis, and maybe the drought happening there has something to do with the lack of Vertical Instability in the Atlantic basin which has been drying up tropical waves as they head your way

The posts in this forum are NOT official forecast and should not be used as such. They are just the opinion of the poster and may or may not be backed by sound meteorological data. They are NOT endorsed by any professional institution or storm2k.org. For official information, please refer to the NHC and NWS products

[cycloneye]

Here is the latest update for PR.

In Puerto Rico, scattered light to moderate showers (0.5 to 2 inches) fell on western and eastern sections of the island, keeping conditions status-quo there. In central sections, however, subnormal rainfall and a reservoir with low water levels justified extending D1 northeastward into Coamo and Villaba Municipalities.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/Stat ... or.aspx?PR

[ConvergenceZone]

I live in California and we are on the verge of a major catastrophe here due to the severe drought. Nothing makes me more sick than to hear someone tell me that they hate the rain.....I feel like anyone who says that should have all their daily water privileges removed......People who take water for granted.