During the past week, widespread rain and thunderstorms fell across parts of the Great Plains, including a few instances of severe weather. Particularly large amounts of rain in central and eastern Nebraska, as well as in adjacent states, improved what had been a quickly drying scenario in many locations. Above-normal precipitation also fell in parts of the Northwest, which led to improvement in parts (though not all) of the ongoing drought areas there. Large rainfall amounts also occurred in south Florida and in parts of the central Florida Panhandle, leading to improvements in or removal of drought in these locations. Widespread rain in parts of Texas also led to drought improvement in the state, though some areas that missed out on the rain (particularly in the Panhandle) saw conditions worsen. Moderate and severe drought were also added to parts of Molokai and the Big Island in Hawaii. Moderate drought coverage lessened in southern Louisiana after precipitation fell there.

Forecast

During the first week of June, the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a high probability of warmer than normal temperatures across most of the continental United States (excluding the East Coast, south Texas, and the Pacific Northwest). The highest probability for above-normal temperatures is centered on the Central Great Plains. The Intermountain West, in particular the Four Corners, northwest Nevada, and southeast Oregon, are favored to have above-normal precipitation, while areas close to the Canadian border (to the west of Lake Huron) are also slightly favored for above-normal precipitation. Meanwhile, most areas from the central and southern Great Plains to the Atlantic Seaboard are favored to have below-normal precipitation, with the exceptions of south Florida and south Texas.

Midwest

Above-normal temperatures occurred in the Upper Midwest this week, particularly in northern reaches of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where temperatures between 6 and 12 degrees warmer than normal for this week were common. Dry weather was also predominant, roughly to the north of the I-90 corridor in Wisconsin and Minnesota, while scattered moderate to heavy rain amounts could be found in parts of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Western Kentucky was dry this week, while eastern Kentucky and adjacent parts of southern and central Ohio received rain amounts ranging from 2 to 6 inches. Half an inch to two inches of rain also fell over Lower Michigan, while the Michigan Upper Peninsula was largely dry. Some areas of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that missed out on the rain continued to dry out, and abnormal dryness developed or expanded in a few areas. However, the region remained free of drought this week.