Issued at 3:07 PM CDT, Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
*Drought update as of July 31st, 2012*
Source: Climate Prediction Center, The Weather Channel
*93% of Missouri is in extreme or exceptional drought which is up from 69% last week.
*83% of Nebraska is in extreme or exceptional drought which is up from 64% last week.
*44% of Arkansas is in exceptional drought which is up from 34% last week.
*24% of Indiana is in exceptional drought.
*46% of the U.S. is in severe drought which is unchanged from last week.
*22% of the U.S. is in extreme drought which is up from 21% last week.
*More than half of the U.S. counties are now drought disaster areas per USDA.
-Midwest drought monitor as of 7/31/12
-Drought severity index ending on July 28th, 2012. Extreme Drought continues to cover the Northwest 1/2 of Minnesota.
-An additional 9-12″ of precipitation is needed in the Northwest half of Minnesota to get back to average per long term palmer drought severity index. Northeast Minnesota is doing fine. Northwest Wisconsin isn’t doing too bad, a trace to 3″ of precip is needed in that area.
-The latest U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook released Today isn’t showing any good news for Northwest, Southwest, and far Southern Minnesota, as well as the Southern half of Wisconsin where the drought is forecast to persist through October 31st, 2012.
-The period from June 19-July 30, 2012 saw rainfall totals of 2-6″ above average in Northeast Minnesota, the Twin Ports, west to the Brainerd Lakes. Northwest and much of Southern Minnesota saw rainfall deficits ranging from 1 to as much as 5″.
-Total precipitation from April 1 through July 30, 2012. The favored areas for significant precipitation events have been in Central, Eastern, and Northeast Minnesota, while Northwest Minnesota saw precip amounts of 8.00″ or less since April 1st.
-April 1 through July 30, 2012 total precipitation departure from normal: Very dry in Northwest Minnesota and in far Southern Minnesota, 2-6″ below average! The opposite can be said for Northeast, Central, and Eastern Minnesota where precipitation surpluses range from 6-14″!
Tim
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