National Weather Service: SE Wisconsin is in a Severe Drought; Evidence Suggests Drought May Persist for Summer Season

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
125 PM CDT THU JUN 10 2021

...Severe Drought (D2) continues across southeastern Wisconsin...

.SYNOPSIS: The Severe Drought (D2) continues for Jefferson,
Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Walworth, and eastern Rock
Counties. The biggest change this week has been with Moderate
drought (D1) being expanded to cover much of the rest of southern
Wisconsin including most or all of Marquette, Green Lake, Fond du
Lac, Columbia and Dodge counties. Moderate drought (D1) conditions
continue across Sauk, Iowa, Dane, Green, northern Lafayette, western
Rock, Washington, Ozaukee, and Sheboygan Counties. Abnormally dry
(D0) conditions continue across far northern Fond du Lac and Green
Lake, and southern Lafayette Counties.

.Precipitation: Many locations in the D1 and D2 drought areas
continued to experience below normal precipitation over the past
week with rainfall generally ranging from 0.00" to 0.20" with most
of the region seeing under 0.05. 30-90 day precipitation is mostly
50% to 75% of normal across the drought areas, but slightly below
50% over far southeast WI. There are 2 to 8 inch 90 day
precipitation deficits across much of D1 and D2 drought areas with
the greatest deficits over far southeast WI.

Hydrologic Conditions: Some streamflows in the D2 area in far
southeastern Wisconsin are below the 25th percentile. Mostly near
normal streamflows exist across the D1 area. Meanwhile soil
conditions remain dry to very dry and well below normal, especially
across southeast Wisconsin.


.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS:

.Agricultural and Fire Hazards: None reported.


.DROUGHT MITIGATION ACTIONS: None reported.


.LOCAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK: The CPC outlook for the middle to latter
half of June calls for slightly higher probabilities of warmer
conditions and much higher probabilities for drier conditions. The 3
to 4 week outlook calls for higher probabilities for warmer
temperatures, while indicating higher probabilities for wetter
conditions. Overall, the evidence suggests the drought may persist
for the summer season.


Banner note:  The Weather Service uses the following five levels to categorize a drought.  We are currently in D2 (Severe Drought). 

Intensity and Impacts
 None
 D0 (Abnormally Dry)
 D1 (Moderate Drought)
 D2 (Severe Drought)
 D3 (Extreme Drought)
 D4 (Exceptional Drought)

The image on the homepage, “Drought” by Mundoo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. It depicts a severe drought in Australia in 2006.

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