The East, South, and Midwest: Heavy rains along the Southeast coast on 27-28 September eased drought in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, resulting in drought intensity dropping from severe (D2) to D1 in eastern Georgia, central South Carolina, and northern Florida. However, severe to extreme drought (D2-D3) continued over a large area from Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia southward through Kentucky, Tennessee, to the Gulf Coast and westward into southeastern Missouri and east Texas. Seven-day rainfall through September 28 was light or sporadic in this drought region, resulting in little improvement.

Though the Eastern Seaboard rains occurring early in the week (Sep 27-28) worsened flooding in eastern North Carolina, the moisture offered some help to the drought in western parts of the Carolinas. In addition, thunderstorms dropped significant rains early in the week on Iowa and northern Missouri, easing drought.

Outlook: Widespread rains fell from Tuesday, September 28, through Wednesday, September 29 over much of the eastern drought region, as well as east Texas and Louisiana. Over the following 2 weeks, cool weather and normal to above-normal rainfall is forecast east of the Mississippi, resulting in drought further diminishing in size and intensity. The southwestern part of the drought region, including Texas and parts of Louisiana and Arkansas, will see little or no additional improvement. Drought is likely to intensify over central and western Texas.

The West: Showers brought mostly insignificant rainfall amounts to the Pacific NW, resulting in little change to the drought in E Oregon, SE Washington, NW Nevada, and SW Idaho. Below-normal rains (less than 50 percent of normal in the past 4 weeks) in western Oregon and Washington has led to an expansion westward of the dry area (D0) in both states, increasing fire danger.

Outlook: Mainly warm and dry weather over the next 2 weeks means no significant change in the current situation, with the extent and magnitude of dryness likely increasing slightly in the Pacific Northwest. The long-term seasonal outlook, however, calls for above-normal precipitation in the Pacific Northwest developing by late fall. For the Southwest, there is a good chance that the drought in Texas will expand westward and move into southern New Mexico and much of Arizona in coming months.

Non-contiguous U.S.: Normal to below-normal rains in Hawaii led to no significant improvement in the continuing long-term drought, which began in 1997. There are no significant dryness problems in Alaska, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

Outlook: In Hawaii, improvement is expected later this year as seasonal rains increase.