Latest Seasonal Assessment -
In August and early September, tropical weather systems continued to eat away at drought in the South and Southeast, and
Hurricane Hanna’s forecast heavy rains appeared likely to further reduce drought on September 5-6. The rains from Hanna were
forecast to drench drought areas from the eastern Carolinas into southern New Jersey, but largely miss drought areas in the
interior. There was also a possibility that Hurricane Ike could deliver more moisture to the Southeast during the second week of
September, although Ike’s ultimate track was very uncertain as of September 3. The overall forecast through November depicted
overall improvement for drought across the Southeast, as well as several areas of drought in the Plains, and for
recently-developed dry areas in the Midwest. In the Southeast, the expected moisture from tropical storms and other weather
systems will boost soil moisture and streamflows, but a few of the larger reservoirs in the interior Southeast, such as Lanier
in Georgia, are unlikely to recover before winter. In the West, although Pacific storms will likely begin to ramp up moisture
levels in northern and central California by the end of November, most of the region should not see significant improvement
until later in the winter, when seasonal snows starts piling up.
Forecaster: D. Le Comte
Next Outlook issued: September 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM EDT
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