Drought-Stricken Areas Getting Winter Precipitation

Dry conditions continued across parts of the South while heavy precipitation fell across Oklahoma and parts of central and eastern Texas. Large parts of Texas and Oklahoma received between two and five inches of rainfall, which is 300 to 600 percent above normal. Average temperatures in the Midwest were well above normal, as many as ten to 25 degrees higher than typical temps. Much of the region also received above-normal precipitation, especially along the western parts of the region where the heaviest amounts reached two to four inches of rainfall, anywhere from one to three inches above normal The above-normal precipitation helped alleviate longer-term precipitation deficits in the region. Heavy precipitation fell over much of the eastern High Plains, where rainfall totals were greater than 600 percent of normal. Exceptional drought was improved in eastern Nebraska. Precipitation fell in most of the Southeast while the western U.S. remained status quo.