One of the features of the Drought Monitor hosted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the ability to compare previous weeks to note changes. Although we usually use static maps you can also animate or use a slider to present the maps.
Here is the current map versus the one from eight weeks prior:
August 3
September 23
Dramatic improvement in the the geographic size of the worst hit areas but some troubling dryness emerging in the southern agricultural lands of Oklahoma and Texas.
And here is the discussion from the latest week:
This Week's Drought Summary
For much of the drought-monitoring period, the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas continued to produce heavy showers across the South. Toward the end of the period, residual tropical moisture was drawn northward in advance of a strong cold front, further enhancing rainfall in several areas. At the Tuesday morning (September 21) cutoff, rain was falling in several areas—including parts of the Midwest—that have been experiencing dryness or drought. Meanwhile, the Northwest also received some precipitation, including high-elevation snow, providing limited drought relief. In many sections of the country, however, dry weather favored summer crop maturation and harvesting, but reduced topsoil moisture for newly planted winter grains. Some of the most significant short-term dryness, aggravated by late-season heat, existed across the southern Plains....
....MUCH MORE
