03/14/2024

Last week, the Southern Region was overall dry in the western portion, and received significant rainfall in the east.

This corresponds to the patches of degradation from west Texas and Oklahoma, to the western parts of Tennessee - with widespread improvements concentrated in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Most notably, the entire southwest portion of Texas and Louisiana experienced drought conditions. The area affected by drought in the Southern Region increased by 0.47%, for a total of 43.98%. This may not seem significant, but most of this land area percentage corresponds to an increase in drought intensity to (D2) Severe Drought. While there was amelioration and improvements of drought in the eastern states, the expansion of (D0) abnormally dry land area in the west slightly exceeded those improvements. The one-class improvements can be credited to some slow moving showers last week and a cold front passage which initiated severe storms throughout the region over the weekend.

Looking to the future, the National Weather Service has forecasted for heavy rainfall from tonight and into the weekend for south-central Texas to southern Mississippi. These severe thunderstorms are expected to increase soil moisture content, raise river levels, and cause flash flooding to the central portion of the Southern Region.