While drought is entrenched in the West, it has disappeared in the rest of the country for the most part. Some 23 percent of the contiguous United States is in drought, a drop of 15 points since the first week of May, says the Drought Monitor.
“Rampant May storminess reduced or eliminated drought’s footprint across the nation’s mid-section,” says the USDA’s Ag in Drought report. On June 2, the portion of the country covered by drought dropped below 25 percent for the first time since February 2011. “This is especially impressive when considering that drought has been a part of the southern Plains’ landscape since autumn 2010.” The rain arrived too late to boost the winter wheat crop, which was damaged by a harsh winter.
U.S. government weather forecasters give an 85 percent chance the El Nino weather pattern will persist into early 2016, said Reuters. The Climate Prediction Center was “the first major forecaster to say the event is highly likely to last into next year.” El Nino patterns increase precipitation in key agricultural sections of the United States.