7/04/2024

Last week the Southern region was hot and dry with excessive heat warnings and heat advisories throughout the week. This has been the case for several weeks in many places resulting in widespread one-class degradations. These degradations were observed in Far West Texas, north-central Texas, central Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, and along the Mississippi River in Louisiana and Mississippi. These degradations not only led to the introduction of abnormally dry conditions in many areas but also the introduction of moderate drought (D1). Fortunately though, some areas of Northern Oklahoma saw one-class improvements which led to the removal of drought conditions in a few isolated areas. These improvements were fueled by heavy rain from storm systems that extended into Kansas.

Looking into the future, Hurricane Beryl is expected to make landfall in South Texas, then move north. Rainfall from this storm likely won't bring many drought improvements to Texas, but as the storm dissipates and tracks north we could see some improvements in northern Arkansas.