CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio is in need of a drink. It has been a dry period in the region for about the last month or two, plus we were way below average with seasonal snowfall. Cleveland, Akron-Canton and Mansfield all have a deficiency in precipitation for all of 2024 and also for the month of June. The last time all three cities saw above-average rainfall was in April.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the heat wave, in conjunction with the dry weather, has worsened conditions over the last week with declining streamflows and lowering soil moisture. In fact, the high temperatures have had the greatest impact over the past week on the Great Lakes.
Therefore, Northeast Ohio is now officially in the early stages of drought, known as "abnormally dry" conditions on the U.S. Drought Monitor.
"D0," or abnormally dry, means the area in yellow is experiencing short-term dryness, slowing planting and growth of crops and pastures.
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).
The weekly update to the United States Drought Monitor was issued on Thursday morning, and there have been HUGE changes across our viewing area and region over just the last week. Compare the map released for the week of June 10th compared to this week (June 17) below.
The yellow area (D0) expanded considerably across the East Coast, the Midwest and Ohio over the last week. On June 10th, 0% of the entire Buckeye State was experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Now, that has increased to 55% of the state experiencing abnormally dry conditions.
Rain chances continue to look limited over the next few days. Our next best chance looks to be on Sunday (June 23) and potentially the middle of next week. We need good soaking rains to help combat drought. Unfortunately, drought typically breeds more drought and can lead to a vicious cycle.
Drought conditions typically cause warmer-than-normal temperatures, which promotes ridging (or high pressure aloft), which in return limits rain potential and then worsens drought. Therefore, the sooner we can get widespread, steady rain, the better.
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