USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey, notes how El Nino has contributed to reduced drought coverage across the nation since mid-October.
El Nino And Reduced Drought Coverage
“A lot of this wetness really can be attributed to El Nino which really ramps up the subtropical jet stream and really contribute a lot of moisture to storm systems crossing the United States.”
“And so since we reached in late summer early autumn peak of about 35% of the country and drought, that being back in mid-october we’ve seen a drop of almost 20 percentage points in that drought coverage.”
“Again from 35 to just over 15% of the country and drought most of the remaining drought is in the far west. If you look at the 11 western states we still see more than one-third covered by drought, 38% specifically, but even there that’s down from 57% in early October which is the beginning of the Western water year.”