 NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2006 / Apr / U.S. Drought / Regional / Help
Climate of 2006 - April
U.S. Regional Drought Watch
National Climatic Data Center, 15 May 2006
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Regional Drought Overview /
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 Regional Overview
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Dryness affected many of the same areas this month that have experienced dry conditions during the last several months. April was much drier than normal along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts and central High Plains, and also across the northwestern Great Lakes. About 3 percent of the contiguous U.S. was very dry (i.e., precipitation in the bottom 10th percentile of the historical record).
Above-normal precipitation continued to bring improvement to parts of the northern Rockies and central and northern Plains. During the month, beneficial rains brought some relief to the drought area in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas and parts of central and northern Texas, but it was not enough to compensate for the significant deficits of the last 12 months.
Dryness intensified and spread along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. For the last three months drought had been concentrated in the middle Atlantic states and in southern Louisiana, but the areas of dryness were spreading throughout the Southeast. Long-term moisture deficits persisted across most of the Mississippi Valley, southern to eastern Texas, and the Southwest.
The April precipitation pattern at the primary stations in Alaska was near to above normal over most of the state. Across Hawaii, the precipitation pattern was dry most everywhere. In Puerto Rico, the month was predominantly wet, based on National Weather Service radar estimates of precipitation.
Some regional highlights:
- Several states had the tenth driest, or drier, multi-month seasons (February-April, November-April, May-April).
- Numerous wildfires burned across Florida, and were especially widespread during the latter part of April into early May.
- End-of-month and month-averaged soil moisture conditions, based on model computations (CPC-1, CPC-2, MRCC), were drier than normal across a broad swath from the Southwest and central Plains to the Atlantic coast. The models also indicated dry soil moisture conditions in parts of Alaska, and improved soil moisture conditions near the surface and at depth across the Midwest.
- April streamflows were below seasonal norms across much of the Gulf Coast and East, and parts of the central Plains and the Southwest, as computed by models and based on USGS observations.
- Drought conditions in the Southwest continued during April. About 23 percent of the western U.S. (Rockies westward) fell in the moderate to extreme drought category (as defined by the Palmer Drought Index) as of the end of April. Aggregated reservoir levels in the West (provided by the USDA) reflected the long-term precipitation deficits in most states.
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- These overall conditions are evident in the following indicators:
- Palmer Drought Indices,
- Standardized Precipitation Index,
- long-term (36 to 60 month) percent of normal precipitation maps,
- airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
- statewide precipitation rank maps,
- Cooperative station percent of normal precipitation maps,
- percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the Western Regional Climate Center
- snow course snowpack observations in the western mountains provided by the USDA NRCS
- satellite-based observations of vegetative health,
- National Weather Service model calculations of
- National Weather Service model calculations of soil moisture using the Leaky Bucket Model,
- Midwest Regional Climate Center model calculations of soil moisture,
- topsoil moisture conditions observed by the USDA and mapped by the Climate Prediction Center,
- pasture and range land conditions observed by the USDA and mapped by the Climate Prediction Center,
- streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.
- A detailed review of drought and moisture conditions is available for all contiguous U.S. states and the nine climatological regions:
REGIONS:
STATES:
* State page has supplemental information.
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Additional Contacts:
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- For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
- For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
Richard Heim
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
-or-
Ned Guttman
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Ned.Guttman@noaa.gov
-or-
Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2006 / Apr / U.S. Drought / Regional / Help
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