This week’s Drought Monitor showed that the incredible rain from Hurricane Helene completely wiped out drought in areas along its path. In some cases, there was a 3-category change in drought conditions, from extreme drought to none at all, because of the torrential rain. This is the first time I can remember seeing such a huge change, since usually the authors limit themselves to changing by one category a week. The only increase in drought occurred in far southwest Alabama, where dry conditions have expanded over time. A small area of abnormally dry (D0) conditions also appeared on the south coast of Puerto Rico near Ponce. With dry conditions expected almost everywhere except the Florida Peninsula, we might see some small expansion of dry conditions along the edges of the Southeast, but I think it is unlikely they will make many changes on next week’s map.
