Update: Arkansas Comeback from Drought Continues
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: November 15, 2012
Update (November 15):
This week's Drought Monitor (click here) continues to show gradual improvement for Arkansas. The National Weather Service in Little Rock says it's not surprising since substantial amounts of rain fell across much of the state Sunday afternoon and Sunday night.
The greatest improvements this week occurred in a swath from southwest Arkansas through the central part of the state into northeast Arkansas, and also over parts of southeast Arkansas.
Now, 18.28-percent of the state has no drought at all; last week it was 7.69-percent.
The part of the state covered by severe or extreme drought is down to 42.23-percent; last week it was 63.80-percent.
The new 3-month outlooks for temperature and precipitation were released today. The most significant change is that the precipitation outlook is now trending toward wetter than normal conditions during the winter.
The Drought Outlook through the end of February was also released today (click here).
Update (November 8):
With the transition to Fall and Winter on the way, drought conditions still have a hold on Arkansas.
KARK 4 Today Meteorologist Greg Dee says we are nowhere near out of the drought we had over the summer.
The latest Drought Monitor (click here) shows severe drought conditions actually now cover 10-percent more of the state than last week.
Extreme drought conditions are stretching from North Central Arkansas and winding over to the western border all the way down to Little River County.
Update (September 20):
Most of Arkansas continues to bounce back from drought conditions, according to the latest Drought Monitor (click here) from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock.
The NWS says Arkansas's northwest, west, central and southern sections are seeing improvement, but not parts of the state's northern region.
That's where rainfall was the least over the past week.
Update (September 13):
Slowly, but surely, Arkansas continues to rebound from drought conditions still gripping parts of the state.
The latest Drought Monitor (click here) shows improvements for parts of Arkansas, but much of the state is still dry.
Update (September 6):
The drought that took hold of Arkansas earlier this summer is still slowly loosening its grip on the state.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock describes the latest Drought Monitor (click here) this way:
"As would be expected following the rain that accompanied Isaac, this week's Drought Monitor shows quite a bit of improvement over Arkansas. Parts of western and northern Arkansas received the least rain, so improvement in these areas is little to none."
Update (August 23):
There's finally some improvement to report in Arkansas' drought struggles.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock says for the first time since the drought began, this week's Drought Monitor (click here) shows some improvement in parts of southern, western, and central Arkansas.
Exceptional Drought, the worst category, now covers 45.30-percent of the state, compared to 53.60-percent last week.
The NWS says the Drought Outlook through the end of November indicates that drought conditions are likely to lessen/improve in southern Arkansas, but the drought is forecast to persist in the north.
Update (August 16):
There's very little change to report in the latest Drought Monitor for Arkansas.
More than 53-percent of Arkansas (53.60 to be exact) remains in Exceptional Drought, the worst category.
It shows no improvement over last week, despite rain in some locations since then.
While it's not any better, it's also not any worse than last week, say officials with the National Weather Service.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
Update (August 9):
More than half of Arkansas (53.26%) is now in Exceptional Drought, the worst category.
The Drought Monitor that comes out on Thursday mornings includes rain that fell through six o'clock Tuesday morning.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, the wildfire danger is still extreme for more than half of the state and high for the rest of the state. Click here for the latest Wildfire Danger map.
All but 10 counties across the state are still under burn bans. Click here for the latest map showing the counties that have issued burn bans.
The latest round of drought conditions developed over Arkansas in 2010, mainly across the state's southeast half. In 2011, the drought continued through much of the year and spread across the south and west.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
Update (August 2):
Nearly half of Arkansas is now under an exceptional drought.
That's according to the latest Drought Monitor released today by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock.
It shows that exceptional drought, the worst category, now encompasses 44.46-percent of Arkansas vs. 33.64-percent of the state last week.
The NWS says the increase is due to exceptional drought now covering more of northern Arkansas.
The Drought Monitor includes rain that fell through Tuesday morning, so it does not take into account the rain that fell in Arkansas from late Wednesday afternoon through this morning. (Most of those rain totals were small, except for some spotty larger amounts in northern Arkansas.)
The NWS today also released its outlook for August and the long-range drought outlook through the end of October.
The average highs and lows in August decrease a few degrees from the start of the month to the end of the month. The NWS says that means an outlook of above normal temperatures does not imply that temperatures will be as hot as they were in July.
**The video attached to this story was prepared by a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist and shows the percentage of crops in each state that fall into the moderate, severe, extreme, or exceptional drought categories.
Update (July 26):
The latest drought monitor from the National Weather Service (NWS) shows that the months-long dry spell is still getting worse across Arkansas.
The NWS says that about one-third of Arkansas is now in exceptional drought, the worst category.
Most other sections of the state are either under extreme drought or severe drought conditions.
If there is a bright spot on the latest drought monitor it's that three counties along the Mississippi River (southern Phillips County, eastern Desha County and nearly all of Chicot County) are only under moderate drought conditions. The same goes for Columbia County in south Arkansas on the Louisiana border, and the extreme southern part of that county is listed as abnormally dry, the lowest ranking on the drought monitor.
Click here to see the latest drought monitor for Arkansas.
Original story (July 19):
The summer drought continues to tighten its grip on Arkansas.
The latest drought monitor data from the National Weather Service (NWS) shows an expansion of the Exceptional Drought, which is the worst category.
There was a little improvement in parts of southern Arkansas where rain was a little more generous over the past week, the NWS said.
Over the past week, many places did pick up at least a little rain. In some cases, it was enough to turn the grass green again. However, amounts exceeding an inch were fairly limited, with the southeast part of the state generally picking up the most.
The new numbers show more than 96-percent of Arkansas is under a severe drought or worse. Eleven counties are under exceptional drought, the worst category listed by the state drought monitor.
Meteorologists at the national level are calling it the worst anyone has seen in the last 10 years. And in Arkansas they say it could be one of the worst ever.
"If you go by a two percentile, it's a once and 50-year drought across Arkansas. So maybe never seen in someone's life span," says Matt Rosencrans, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington.
There's not much relief in sight. Forecasts released today from the NOAA predict the dry weather to continue for the next three months.
Rosencrans also discussed the possible effects of a prolonged drought, saying "If your local water supply is based on well water or aquifer water and those are not recharged, you could literally run out of water for your town."
The NWS's John Robinson says this time of year, evaporation easily exceeds a third of an inch a day on hot days. When humidities are low, evaporation can approach one-half inch per day. Thus, a rainfall of one-half or three-quarters of an inch has an effect only for a short time.
Robinson says the Drought Outlook for Arkansas through the end of October is not favorable, indicating that the drought is likely to persist or perhaps even worsen in some parts of the state.
Likewise, the outlook for August looks like more of the same, weather-wise, with conditions favoring above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall.
The 3-month outlook through the end of October continues the trend of above-normal temperatures, but there is less certainty in regards to rainfall.
Robinson says weather experts across the country have been discussing how the current drought relates to those in the mid 1950's and the Dust Bowl. The current drought is not comparable at this point, he says, since the other droughts persisted over a period of several years. The current drought is referred to as a "flash drought" because its onset was over such a short period of time.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, the wildfire danger is still high for the entire state.
Click here for the latest Wildfire Danger map.
The majority of counties across the state are still under burn bans. Click here for the latest map showing the counties that have issued burn bans.
The latest round of drought conditions developed over Arkansas in 2010, mainly across the state's southeast half. In 2011, the drought continued through much of the year and spread across the south and west.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
This week's Drought Monitor (click here) continues to show gradual improvement for Arkansas. The National Weather Service in Little Rock says it's not surprising since substantial amounts of rain fell across much of the state Sunday afternoon and Sunday night.
The greatest improvements this week occurred in a swath from southwest Arkansas through the central part of the state into northeast Arkansas, and also over parts of southeast Arkansas.
Now, 18.28-percent of the state has no drought at all; last week it was 7.69-percent.
The part of the state covered by severe or extreme drought is down to 42.23-percent; last week it was 63.80-percent.
The new 3-month outlooks for temperature and precipitation were released today. The most significant change is that the precipitation outlook is now trending toward wetter than normal conditions during the winter.
The Drought Outlook through the end of February was also released today (click here).
Update (November 8):
With the transition to Fall and Winter on the way, drought conditions still have a hold on Arkansas.
KARK 4 Today Meteorologist Greg Dee says we are nowhere near out of the drought we had over the summer.
The latest Drought Monitor (click here) shows severe drought conditions actually now cover 10-percent more of the state than last week.
Extreme drought conditions are stretching from North Central Arkansas and winding over to the western border all the way down to Little River County.
Update (September 20):
Most of Arkansas continues to bounce back from drought conditions, according to the latest Drought Monitor (click here) from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock.
The NWS says Arkansas's northwest, west, central and southern sections are seeing improvement, but not parts of the state's northern region.
That's where rainfall was the least over the past week.
Update (September 13):
Slowly, but surely, Arkansas continues to rebound from drought conditions still gripping parts of the state.
The latest Drought Monitor (click here) shows improvements for parts of Arkansas, but much of the state is still dry.
Update (September 6):
The drought that took hold of Arkansas earlier this summer is still slowly loosening its grip on the state.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock describes the latest Drought Monitor (click here) this way:
"As would be expected following the rain that accompanied Isaac, this week's Drought Monitor shows quite a bit of improvement over Arkansas. Parts of western and northern Arkansas received the least rain, so improvement in these areas is little to none."
Update (August 23):
There's finally some improvement to report in Arkansas' drought struggles.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock says for the first time since the drought began, this week's Drought Monitor (click here) shows some improvement in parts of southern, western, and central Arkansas.
Exceptional Drought, the worst category, now covers 45.30-percent of the state, compared to 53.60-percent last week.
The NWS says the Drought Outlook through the end of November indicates that drought conditions are likely to lessen/improve in southern Arkansas, but the drought is forecast to persist in the north.
Update (August 16):
There's very little change to report in the latest Drought Monitor for Arkansas.
More than 53-percent of Arkansas (53.60 to be exact) remains in Exceptional Drought, the worst category.
It shows no improvement over last week, despite rain in some locations since then.
While it's not any better, it's also not any worse than last week, say officials with the National Weather Service.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
Update (August 9):
More than half of Arkansas (53.26%) is now in Exceptional Drought, the worst category.
The Drought Monitor that comes out on Thursday mornings includes rain that fell through six o'clock Tuesday morning.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, the wildfire danger is still extreme for more than half of the state and high for the rest of the state. Click here for the latest Wildfire Danger map.
All but 10 counties across the state are still under burn bans. Click here for the latest map showing the counties that have issued burn bans.
The latest round of drought conditions developed over Arkansas in 2010, mainly across the state's southeast half. In 2011, the drought continued through much of the year and spread across the south and west.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
Update (August 2):
Nearly half of Arkansas is now under an exceptional drought.
That's according to the latest Drought Monitor released today by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Little Rock.
It shows that exceptional drought, the worst category, now encompasses 44.46-percent of Arkansas vs. 33.64-percent of the state last week.
The NWS says the increase is due to exceptional drought now covering more of northern Arkansas.
The Drought Monitor includes rain that fell through Tuesday morning, so it does not take into account the rain that fell in Arkansas from late Wednesday afternoon through this morning. (Most of those rain totals were small, except for some spotty larger amounts in northern Arkansas.)
The NWS today also released its outlook for August and the long-range drought outlook through the end of October.
The average highs and lows in August decrease a few degrees from the start of the month to the end of the month. The NWS says that means an outlook of above normal temperatures does not imply that temperatures will be as hot as they were in July.
**The video attached to this story was prepared by a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist and shows the percentage of crops in each state that fall into the moderate, severe, extreme, or exceptional drought categories.
Update (July 26):
The latest drought monitor from the National Weather Service (NWS) shows that the months-long dry spell is still getting worse across Arkansas.
The NWS says that about one-third of Arkansas is now in exceptional drought, the worst category.
Most other sections of the state are either under extreme drought or severe drought conditions.
If there is a bright spot on the latest drought monitor it's that three counties along the Mississippi River (southern Phillips County, eastern Desha County and nearly all of Chicot County) are only under moderate drought conditions. The same goes for Columbia County in south Arkansas on the Louisiana border, and the extreme southern part of that county is listed as abnormally dry, the lowest ranking on the drought monitor.
Click here to see the latest drought monitor for Arkansas.
Original story (July 19):
The summer drought continues to tighten its grip on Arkansas.
The latest drought monitor data from the National Weather Service (NWS) shows an expansion of the Exceptional Drought, which is the worst category.
There was a little improvement in parts of southern Arkansas where rain was a little more generous over the past week, the NWS said.
Over the past week, many places did pick up at least a little rain. In some cases, it was enough to turn the grass green again. However, amounts exceeding an inch were fairly limited, with the southeast part of the state generally picking up the most.
The new numbers show more than 96-percent of Arkansas is under a severe drought or worse. Eleven counties are under exceptional drought, the worst category listed by the state drought monitor.
Meteorologists at the national level are calling it the worst anyone has seen in the last 10 years. And in Arkansas they say it could be one of the worst ever.
"If you go by a two percentile, it's a once and 50-year drought across Arkansas. So maybe never seen in someone's life span," says Matt Rosencrans, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington.
There's not much relief in sight. Forecasts released today from the NOAA predict the dry weather to continue for the next three months.
Rosencrans also discussed the possible effects of a prolonged drought, saying "If your local water supply is based on well water or aquifer water and those are not recharged, you could literally run out of water for your town."
The NWS's John Robinson says this time of year, evaporation easily exceeds a third of an inch a day on hot days. When humidities are low, evaporation can approach one-half inch per day. Thus, a rainfall of one-half or three-quarters of an inch has an effect only for a short time.
Robinson says the Drought Outlook for Arkansas through the end of October is not favorable, indicating that the drought is likely to persist or perhaps even worsen in some parts of the state.
Likewise, the outlook for August looks like more of the same, weather-wise, with conditions favoring above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall.
The 3-month outlook through the end of October continues the trend of above-normal temperatures, but there is less certainty in regards to rainfall.
Robinson says weather experts across the country have been discussing how the current drought relates to those in the mid 1950's and the Dust Bowl. The current drought is not comparable at this point, he says, since the other droughts persisted over a period of several years. The current drought is referred to as a "flash drought" because its onset was over such a short period of time.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, the wildfire danger is still high for the entire state.
Click here for the latest Wildfire Danger map.
The majority of counties across the state are still under burn bans. Click here for the latest map showing the counties that have issued burn bans.
The latest round of drought conditions developed over Arkansas in 2010, mainly across the state's southeast half. In 2011, the drought continued through much of the year and spread across the south and west.
Click here to see the Drought Monitor for the entire country.
