DAYTON — Hello, everyone! Weather Specialist Nick Dunn here to give an update on our drought situation. We know it is raining today, but, we get updates each Thursday morning that reflect the prior week’s data! Across the Miami Valley we continue to see improvements for some, however, we are seeing some spots still dealing with intense drought conditions.
You can see where those across the southern Miami Valley are completely removed from even Abnormally Dry conditions. This is thanks to continued rainfall that has allowed for overall drought markers to improve.
Regarding the sharp cutoff in the area, Climatologist Aaron Wilson from Ohio State told me in an interview “the cutoff across the northern Miami Valley into northwest Ohio is pretty clear from the evidence. Some of these areas in the last month have picked up maybe one half inch or so, maybe a bit more. With the cooler temperatures we are not losing the moisture as rapidly and drought expansion has slowed.”
Across the northwestern counties from Winchester to Wapakoneta, we still have Severe to Extreme Drought conditions continuing. There was some expansion of Severe Drought into Randolph County and more of Mercer County.
When I asked about soil moisture levels across northwest Ohio and the northern Miami Valley, Wilson tells me “the surface does fluctuate a little bit faster because it does respond to the rainfall. Deeper soil moisture at 8 to 10 inches does not respond as fast. There’s nothing percolating down.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free Storm Center 7 Weather app for alerts as news breaks]
The table above shows how we are still in a bit of a battle zone when it comes to drought. The improvements for the southern two-thirds of the area re reflected with more of us in “No Condition” and trending lower with those in “Abnormally Dry” and “Moderate Drought” conditions. However, the lack of rain in the northwestern counties is reflected here with an increase in the “Severe” and “Extreme” categories of drought.
The estimated departure from normal shows the battle zone as well. Across Mercer County, estimates show the last 90 days there is a 6-7″ rainfall deficit, whereas Montgomery and Clark Counties are averaging a 1-2″ rainfall deficit.
[WATCH Storm Center 7 Weather on the following devices]
We are seeing more rain today that will definitely aid in some further relief into next week’s drought update. However, again the heaviest rains missed those in the worst of the drought. So, while every drop helps, we could use these steadier rains across northwest Ohio into the northern Miami Valley.
