Moderate Drought (D1) conditions improved southward into Crawford County in northwestern Pennsylvania, with slightly above-normal precipitation and improving soil moisture. In far western New York, increased streamflows improved Severe Drought (D2) conditions to Moderate Drought (D1) conditions in Genesee and Wyoming counties. In New York, Long Island was lifted out of Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions. The Northeast has only a few pockets of Abnormally Dry (D0), Moderate Drought (D1), and Severe Drought (D2) conditions. Improvements were seen from southwest New York southward into West Virginia. Heavy precipitation fell over the Northeast. Lack of precipitation and low SWE in higher elevations have left areas of Montana and Arizona worse off than last week. The West saw few improvements, except for New Mexico. Central, eastern and southern Midwest largely missed precipitation, causing deterioration in eastern Ohio, southern Indiana and Illinois, and eastern and northern Kentucky where groundwater and streamflow remain low. The north-central Midwest had some improvements from the same storm that benefited the High Plains. Northern Colorado and Wyoming experienced deterioration without the benefit of the precipitation that fell further east and low snow water equivalent (SWE). Northeastern Colorado into eastern Nebraska had some improvement.

The High Plains benefited from a rain and snow weather system that moved through the area before the new year. The South remained the same as last week, with small areas of deterioration from northeast Texas into southwestern Arkansas, and north and central Louisiana.Ī small part of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi saw minor improvements. The southern part of the Southeast did not benefit from any of the precipitation that fell elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, bringing further degradations to an already very dry part of the country. Further south along the Mid-Atlantic, 150% to 300% of normal precipitation fell, bringing improvements in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Northeast remained largely unchanged from last week, with minor improvements in western New York, Pennsylvania and central Maryland where precipitation was 150% to 300% of normal. A large storm system brought rain and snow to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts along with rain and snow in the eastern High Plains and Midwest.

Ohio time zone map