Extreme weather events across the United States this week created a stark contrast between drought expansion in the West and Plains and relief in other regions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
A persistent heat dome drove temperatures 20 to 25 degrees above normal in the West and Plains, shattering early-season records and significantly increasing evaporative demand. This intense heat, combined with high winds and pre-existing dryness, threatened to rapidly deplete topsoil moisture and fueled explosive wildfires, most notably the historic Morrill Fire in Nebraska that consumed 642,029 acres.
The combination of soaring temperatures and below-normal precipitation resulted in the expansion of drought and abnormal dryness across portions of the West, Great Plains and parts of the Southeast.
Exceptional drought expanded in northwest Colorado, while extreme drought grew across Colorado, southern Wyoming and southern Nebraska. Severe drought pushed further into central and northern Wyoming, western and southern Colorado, and advanced from Nebraska into South Dakota.
In the Southeast, exceptional drought expanded from southern Georgia into northern Florida. Extreme drought grew in south-central North Carolina, northern and southern Georgia, western Florida and pushed into southern South Carolina. Month-to-date rainfall totals from central North Carolina down to northern Florida sit at 25% of normal or less.
Conversely, other regions experienced abrupt moisture influxes that mitigated dry conditions. A powerful winter storm delivered a late-season blizzard, dropping over 50 inches of snow across parts of the Upper Midwest and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Above-average precipitation allowed for the reduction of severe drought in northern New Jersey and along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. Moderate drought was trimmed in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts.
In the Midwest, northern and eastern areas received 0.5 inches or more of precipitation, with some locations seeing 150% to 300% of normal weekly rainfall. This led to the reduction of extreme drought and severe drought in Indiana and Ohio, alongside severe drought improvements in Illinois.
The most extreme precipitation occurred over the Hawaiian Islands, where a stalled Kona low dumped unprecedented, historic rainfall. Maui's Kahului Airport shattered its all-time wettest month on record, amassing 20.61 inches of rain by March 24. Moderate drought was eradicated from Molokai and Maui, while abnormal dryness was completely removed from Molokai and Lanai.
Looking ahead, the contiguous United States is forecast to experience another week of widespread, record-breaking warmth over the next five days, with temperatures 20 to 40 degrees above average across the western and central U.S.
