Expanding dry conditions and short term drought in the Southeast

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) published this morning shows dry conditions have expanded in the Southeast. The USDM authors explain in the excerpt below from the Drought Monitor Text Summary for June 21, 2016 that the expansion of dry conditions in the region has been caused by below normal rainfall in many areas and declining soil moisture:

• Southeast and Tennessee USDM Text Summary: Despite locally heavy showers, most of the region’s existing Moderate (D1) to Severe (D2) Drought areas reported little — if any — rainfall during the period. The crux of the heaviest rain (2-6 inches) fell over southern and west-central Alabama, affording some localized drought relief in these areas. Across interior portions of the Southeast, soil moisture continued to decline rapidly; according to USDA-NASS [National Agricultural Statistics Service], topsoil moisture was rated 46, 42, and 35 percent poor to very poor in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, respectively. To further illustrate the dryness, 90-day rainfall over the newly-expanded D2 area from northern Georgia into western North Carolina has totaled a meager 60 percent of normal or less, and in some areas below 40 percent. Farther north in Tennessee, dryness continued to intensify in eastern portions of the state, where 30-day rainfall has measured 40 percent of normal or less.

In Upstate South Carolina, dry conditions have expanded and worsened, with a small percentage in the northwest corner now classified as Severe Drought (D2). Dry conditions have mainly impacted agriculture in this region, indicating the onset of agricultural drought. For more information, you can check out this local news story that highlights how farmers in the Upstate have had to increase irrigation due to low rainfall.