8/17/2023

With widespread precipitation in the northern part of the climate region, drought conditions were able to improve in some areas. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the entire region. Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were experiencing record-setting heat and lacked a significant amount of precipitation. Due to these conditions, much of Texas and Louisiana, as well as Southern Mississippi, experienced class one degradation, along with some areas in southern Oklahoma and in Eastern Arkansas/Western Mississippi. The vast expansion of drought conditions in Texas and Louisiana led to an enlargement of D2 (Severe Drought) and D3 (Extreme Drought) conditions in parts of these states. However, above-average rainfall amounts in northern Oklahoma and Arkansas allowed for some one-class improvements along the northern borders of those states.

As the near constant high-pressure center is forecasted to be centered over Louisiana next week, bringing with it more excessive heat to the region, the Climate Prediction Center has highlighted in the 8-14 Probabilistic Hazards Outlook that large portions of Northwest, far West, and Northeast Texas and North-Central Louisiana are at a "rapid onset drought risk."