It was a very dry month across Northeast Ohio during May 2023 and early June 2023. Cleveland (and much of Northeast Ohio) did not see any rain for over three weeks. Last week, nearly the entire viewing area fell into moderate drought, but now we have seen rounds of rain since last Sunday, but not everyone has been treated the same regarding how much rain fell.
Below shows rainfall totals across the region after the last week. Notice the dark blue dots, they represent 1.53 - 2.26 inches and the yellow dots represent totals of 2.27 to 3.08 inches.
Those communities received plenty of rain over the last week. However, there are several other communities in the Power of 5 Viewing area that received less than an inch of rain over the last week.
We now have a surplus again for the year and the month of June in Cleveland. Meanwhile, Mansfield has a surplus for the month, but running about half an inch below average for the year. And Akron still has a deficiency for both June and 2023.
So - how did all of this affect the ongoing drought?
DROUGHT LINGERS: The weekly update to the United States Drought Monitor was issued on Thursday morning, and surprisingly there has not been a dramatic change across our viewing area over the last week. Compare the map released on June 8 compared to this week below. Note how the beige area (moderate drought/D1) is still covering nearly the entire viewing area and has actually spread to more counties across Ohio. On June 1, 0% of the Buckeye State was experiencing moderate drought. Now that has increased to 78% of the state in moderate drought, and 96% of the state is still experiencing abnormally dry conditions.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the system that moved through on Sunday & Monday did little to stop widespread drought across the region. There are a couple of exceptions, including Cleveland and much of northern Cuyahoga County, and western Lake County which are no longer in drought or have dropped to abnormally dry. These improvements are mainly in areas that picked up over two inches of rainfall. Loss of crops is still a concern for many in the region with many reports of browning and stressed vegetation. This shows us that the return of rain does not always immediately end a drought - but it is a start! We have another chance to see rain Thursday evening, but some of the storms could be strong or severe. You can find more information about that threat with this link.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is a map released every Thursday (with data from Tuesday to Tuesday). It tracks drought across the U.S. Using five classifications: Abnormally dry (D0), which shows areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought, and four levels of drought: Moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3) and exceptional (D4).
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