Agricultural News
Recent Rains Help Central Oklahoma But Many Areas Left Out As Drought Conditions Now Reach Into Northeast Oklahoma
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 15:09:43 CDT
Looking at the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows a very "red" Colorado, which indicates a persistent and growing area of D3 Extreme Drought extending from central and southern Colorado into western Kansas, northern New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Heavy rains this week helped alleviate some drought pain in central and south-central Oklahoma as well as northern Texas. However, many other drought-stricken areas did not get much relief. Because of the extremely dry conditions combined with high winds and hardened soils, extended periods of above normal precipitation are needed for drought improvement in many areas of the central and southern Plains.
Severe (D2) and extreme (D3) drought designations remain for many parts of the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles
Specifically, the Oklahoma map shows drought conditions worsening across the state as 56.75 percent of the state is considered abnormally dry or worse. Last week that number was 51 percent. The yellow shades of abnormally dry now extends all the way east to the
Arkansas border, enveloping all of Ottawa, Delaware, Cherokee and Adair Counties.
To view the updated Oklahoma drought map, click here.
Results from this week's promising rains will quickly evaporate as the near-term outlook does not look good. Less rainfall amounts and high winds are expected to continue over the central and southern Plains.
The NOAA 7-day forecast extended out to July2 does not hold much hope for widespread relief in Oklahoma.
To view the 7-day outlook, click here.
To view the seasonal drought outlook map for June-September, click here.
To view the U.S. Drought Monitor map, click here.
The U.S. Drought Monitor Map is developed through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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