The driest locations were found across the eastern Carolinas, eastern Virginia, and northern Georgia.

USVI vegetation was turning brown across the three islands and groundwater was at the lowest point in nearly a year on St. Thomas. March-June 2020 temperatures were warmer than average in the northwest and cooler than average in the southeast parts of the region, while precipitation had a mixed anomaly pattern. Despite above average rainfall for much of southeastern Australia and parts of the inland northwest and Northern Territory during one or more months this year, serious or severe longer-term rainfall deficiencies persist over very large areas.

Gridded precipitation percentile map for Alaska, January-June 2020. Other small areas experiencing serious rainfall deficiencies include the southwest of the Alice Springs District in the Northern Territory, and pockets of southwest South Australia.

California’s two most dangerous new wildfires were the Glass and Zogg Fires, both of which started on September 27. Through daybreak on September 29, drought impacts continued to mount, with many more locations reporting wells running dry. In the US, regional Palmer maps are featured on the cable channel Weatherscan.

The fronts and lows mostly moved across the northern states, frequently reaching the central Plains and Ohio Valley when particularly strong upper-level troughs migrated through the region, and occasionally reached into the southeast states. In Northeastern California, a cluster of fires were started by lightning strikes in mid-July with the July Complex being the largest at over 83,000 acres burned and prompting evacuations near the community of Copic in Modoc County.

The drought resistance index according to Bidinger et al. Development of the Southwest Monsoon, which peaks in July for some locations, has been inhibited largely due to the position of low pressure over the northwestern US which has prevented the formation of the Four Corners High — one of the primary atmospheric circulation patterns that pumps moisture into the monsoon region. Oklahoma led the nation with 47% of its sorghum rated very poor to poor, according to USDA. This ranked as the 21st wettest July on record (1895-2020). Temperatures were mostly warmer than normal for the last three months (last 1, 2, 3 months). Streamflows were generally near normal across the western Dakotas, eastern Colorado, and western and eastern areas of South Dakota. Arizona had the second driest SPEI for April-July compared to fourth driest SPI and New Mexico the third driest SPEI for April-July compared to 11th driest SPI. Dry conditions in Maine caused a fungus that kills the pupa of the browntail moth caterpillar to grow too late this year. There were two swaths across the Midwest with above-normal precipitation, with some areas with more than twice their normal amounts, including much of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan in one swath, and northern Missouri, much of Illinois, southern Indiana, and much of Kentucky in another. Despite the rain, much of the island remained in moderate or severe drought. In the Hawaiian Islands, Hurricane Douglas narrowly missed the island chain during the last week of July passing just to the north as a Category 1 hurricane. September 1-29 rainfall totaled just 0.12 inch (4% of normal) in Indianapolis, Indiana, and 0.90 inch (30%) in Saint Louis, Missouri. According to the USDM, the area experiencing drought (D1-D4) in the region increased by nearly 20 percent between May 26th and June 30th. Hamilton Airport, St. Croix, precipitation, April-June, 1951-2020.

Near- or above-normal temperatures prevailed in the West, with the hottest weather occurring in the Four Corners States.

More information, provided by the NOAA Regional Climate Centers and others, can be found below.

July 2020 was generally drier than normal in the southern Hawaiian main islands and wetter than normal in the northern islands, although there were a few exceptions. Temperatures were, in general, above normal across most of the High Plains in June.

Rainfall during the past three southern wet seasons was below average, and the first half of the 2020 wet season was also drier than average (relative to 1961–1990). The dryness contributed to further expansion of drought across these areas. They will change when the final data are processed, but will not be replaced on these pages.
April-June 2020 was drier than normal from the Southwest to northern Plains and across much of the Northeast.

All of these states have had much-warmer-than-normal temperatures in July for most of the last eleven years.

By the end of July, corn was faring well in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, with over 70 percent of the crop rated as in good to excellent condition. Meanwhile, Wotje continued in severe drought this week as the location had no rain.

The SPI maps illustrate how moisture conditions have varied considerably through time and space over the last two years.

The total storage in the southern Basin increased by 8.8% during August to 62.8% (12,815 GL), 13.7% higher than August 2019. D1 is the least intense level and D4 the most intense. Global Palmer data sets have been developed based on instrumental records beginning in the 19th century. The dryness was significant for the USVI and southeastern Puerto Rico for the last 3 to 4 months, and was still evident at 6 to 12 months.

Used together, the Palmer Z Index and PHDI maps show that short-term drought occurred across much of the West and southern High Plains, expanding and intensifying long-term dry conditions and, in southern parts of the West, eliminating long-term wet conditions (PHDI maps for July compared to June). The percent area in drought for the western US expanded from 45% on June 30th to 59% on July 28th with 7% of the area classified as Extreme Drought (D3). Numerous convective thunderstorms brought lightning and thunder to Alaska during June 2020. Dry, occasionally breezy weather led to a “flash-drought” situation, with rapid development or expansion of dryness and drought. Going back farther, Saipan had the driest May-June, April-June, and March-June; the second driest February-June and December-June; and third driest January-June and November-June. Despite scattered showers, mainly in the Great Lakes region, some areas continued to experience an expansion of short-term dryness (D0) and moderate drought (D1).

This deviation, whether positive (resistant) or negative (susceptible) can be calculated as depicted in Table 1 or it can be calculated by the studentized residuals from the regression for each cultivar, as available in most statistical packages.

A mixed anomaly pattern prevailed from 9 to 24 months, with wetter-than-normal conditions dominant at longer time scales (last 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 months).

As of June 30th, nearly 40 percent of the region was experiencing drought (D1-D4), which was about double the areal coverage at the end of May. Wet conditions dominate the Pacific Northwest or northern Rockies at 1 to 6 months, the Southeast to Mid-Atlantic at 3 to 24 months, the Southeast to Great Lakes at 6 to 9 months, and much of the CONUS east of the Rockies at 12 to 24 months. The short-term drought in the Northeast began areas of long-term drought there. D3 conditions also decreased slightly in eastern Colorado. The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It was wetter than normal at Kosrae and Yap (FSM), Majuro (RMI), and Pago Pago (American Samoa). Above average August rainfall lessens some short-term deficiencies, but little relief in WA . The total storage reached 55% at the end of August, an increase of 8% since last month and 13% since the same time last year. Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is an index used to determining forest fire potential.

Moderate drought classifications decreased across southeastern Louisiana and southern Texas, but moderate drought conditions developed or expanded across central, western and northern Texas as well as western, northern, and central Oklahoma.
6, pp. June temperatures were warmer than normal in the west and cooler than normal in the southeast to panhandle. April-June 2020 percent of normal precipitation map for the U.S. to Caribbean.

Drought had returned to the region in early June in Minnesota after the region was drought-free since November. This is because the area experiencing abnormally dry conditions increased across northeastern Oklahoma, western, central, and eastern Texas, northwestern Arkansas, southwestern and northeastern Louisiana, northeastern and southwestern Mississippi, and western and central Tennessee.