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Latest drought monitor is out. Chipping away at the extreme drought in Middle and West Tenn. Rainfall tally ended Tuesday so East doesn't have what just fell. I figure North Mississippi improved too. We have another week or so of a somewhat active pattern. Then it wants to shift back to the Midwest - which could still clip the Mid-South. East Tennessee needs more help before that shift. Some mid-range guidance has rain chances again in the 11-15 day period, so the week of May 18. Models try to bring one more trough through the Great Lakes that period. We'll see. Climo is gonna start favoring the Plains in late May.

I wonder if the below average precipitation departures (not just in our region but within the country), particularly the last several years are a product of what seems to be the peak of the +AMO regime. Or I shouldn't say directly related because there are always other factors but perhaps a large driver.

I had 3 on my coveralls, 2 on my shirt, and one between my sock and work boot from 2 hrs of tree field work Tuesday. Granted I'm sometimes laying on my side to base prune or saw stumps even with the ground, so I expect lots of hitchhikers when I'm out there. I prep with tucked clothes and then change out in the garage when done where I can check clothes inside and out and do a quick body check so I don't bring any with me inside the house. Permethrin sprayed on the outside of the workboots, socks, and field clothes then allowed to dry before using, has a dramatic effect. I hadn't sprayed the work clothes yet this year after washing them and storing them at the start of last winter, hence all the ticks Tuesday. Once I treat em I can usually crawl around the fields and woods and only see an occasional rider when I'm through for the day. Caveat is to let the spray completely dry, and keep my field work clothes out of the house away from pets, re-spray after 3 or 4 washings. PITA but better than plucking embedded vampires every day of the warmer months.

It was a TDS. Damage was reported almost immediately, but when you're warning or trying to detect tornadoes in rural areas with a high beam height, you're going to miss things. The same thing happened the other year in Garett County when the TDS pushed above 11,000 ft, the radar out of Pittsburgh finally saw it. Unfortunately, it was too late by then.

May 7 1916: Strong winds sweep across the state and cause dust storms over southern Minnesota. Great damage is done to standing timber in Northern Minnesota. Many fires develop, one of which would destroy 30,000,000 feet of lumber. For Thursday, May 7, 2026 1840 - A powerful tornado wrecked many boats at the Natchez Landing in Mississippi, then plowed through the city on the bluff. The tornado killed 317 persons, and caused a million dollars damage. The force of the storm caused houses to burst open. The tornado was the most deadly and destructive in early American history. (David Ludlum) 1964 - The temperature at White Mountain 2, located in California, dipped to 15 degrees below zero to set a record for May for the continental U.S. (The Weather Channel) 1987 - Thirty-one cities in the western U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 93 degrees at Portland OR and San Jose CA were the warmest of record for so early in the season. The high of 92 degrees at Quillayute WA was a record for the month of May. The temperature at Sacramento CA hit 105 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) 1988 - A powerful storm in the north central U.S. produced up to three feet of snow in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and the mountains of south central Montana. Up to five inches of rain drenched central Montana in less than 24 hours, and flash flooding in Wyoming caused a million dollars damage. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary) 1989 - Thirty-two cities in the central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date, and 24 hour snowfall totals of 7.2 inches at Buffalo NY and 10.7 inches at Rochester NY were records for the month of May. While northerly winds ushered unseasonably cold air into the eastern U.S., temperatures warmed rapidly in the Great Plains Region, reaching the 90s in Kansas. The temperature at Manhattan KS soared from a low of 30 degrees to a high of 88 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) 1990 - Gale force winds lashed the northern and central Pacific coast. A wind gust of 52 mph at Eureka CA established a record for the month of May. Strong winds over northeastern Colorado, associated with a fast moving Pacific cold front, gusted to 63 mph at Peetz. Snow developed over the northwest mountains of Wyoming late in the day, and Yellowstone National Park was whitened with 6 to 14 inches. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

My local area has received only very light rain so far (couple of hundredths at most) today. However, there’s supposedly the bulk of it to come.

Top 5 cold aftrn yesterday with highs in the upper 30's - 40's. I-Falls 38 (1st beating 39 1950/79), Hibbing 41 (t2nd), Duluth 42 (t7th), Brainerd 43 (3rd), Park Rapids 41 (t4th), St Cloud 45 (t4th), Minneapolis 46 (t3rd), and Rochester 47 (t5th). In WI, Ashland 44 (t5th), Eau Claire 44 (3rd), Rhinelander 43 (t4th), and La Crosse 47 (t5th).

Ten of our last fifteen days have featured below normal temperatures. It looks like much of the next 15 days will also average out with cooler than normal temperatures. After some much needed rain last night we have a great day underway today. Below normal temperatures will continue through Saturday. Rain chances increase again toward Saturday morning before we briefly warm to above normal on Sunday for Mom’s day with highs in the middle 70’s. We turn sharply cooler again to start the new work week.

Ten of our last fifteen days have featured below normal temperatures. It looks like much of the next 15 days will also average out with cooler than normal temperatures. After some much needed rain last night we have a great day underway today. Below normal temperatures will continue through Saturday. Rain chances increase again toward Saturday morning before we briefly warm to above normal on Sunday for Mom’s day with highs in the middle 70’s. We turn sharply cooler again to start the new work week.

Locally speaking, and truly locally, some of yall won big, but the Catawba River basin desperately needs to score soon. That impacts a lot of ag and water supplies from Lake James all the way down to the low country. I’ve never seen lake hickory this low (granted I wasn’t living here in 2007). Lake James —> Lake Rhodhiss —> Lake Hickory —> Lake Norman —-> Lake Wylie —> Wateree to Marion and out to sea at Charleston. This watershed supplies millions.

At least some of yall won! We all need it, so that’s a win in itself. I’d just settle at this point for consistent weekly thunderstorms as we warm up. As much as we loathe it, we need to get some soupy air to tap into. I can’t recall the dp being this consistently low. It feels nice, but it’s not conducive to active weather and afternoon lift. I’ve normally already put two treatments of disease X on the yard - no need so far.

Thank you again for the information.

It's pretty close to average throughout the year - slight uptick in Nov and Dec to above avg. Nov-Feb of strongest El Nino's:

Third day in a row with snow showers, and the fourth this month. High in the upper 30’s yesterday.

additional .25 last night, so .35" total

Pretty dry from the last week of March to the last week of April. Looks to have created a ~4 inch deficit compared to the 30 year average. Hopefully we'll get some decent rain on Saturday and early next week before the Steining continues.

Appreciate the response and map! What month, if any, would average much above average precipitation so that we can put a real dent in this drought.

A quarter inch of rain never felt so wet.

0.15 correlation, if average is 4.00", that's 4.60"

What about June?

Same. That salvaged it being a half decent event. The initial rain barely wet the ground.

Yeah the overnight batch really overperformed. I ended up with 0.45" for the event. Not bad. Glad the garden got a good watering.

Pretty close to what I had for here. ~60", but i might be a hair low

Yeah, felt like a lucky night - that it happened overnight was good too because it allowed it to soak in better instead of the sun baking it off.

Got more rain from the overnight batch here than the daytime batch