April 11, 2023 National Drought Summary

The discussion in the Looking Ahead section is simply a description of what the official national guidance from the National Weather Service (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction is depicting for current areas of dryness and drought. The NWS forecast products utilizedinclude the HPC 5-day QPF and 5-day Mean Temperature progs, the 6-10 Day Outlooks of Temperature and Precipitation Probability, and the 8-14Day Outlooks of Temperature and Precipitation Probability, valid as of late Wednesday afternoon of the USDM release week. The NWS forecast webpage used for this section is: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/forecasts/.

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Most of the U.S. Virgin Islands have remained drier than normal. Reports from NOAA indicated that vegetation is beginning to show signs of distress due to the drier-than-normal conditions. For example, poultry farmers across the islands are reporting a decrease in egg production due to heat. Because of the recent rains, some improvements across the islands have been observed on the short-term SPI maps. However, the drier-than-normal conditions remain at the 1- and 3-month SPI maps across the three islands. The satellite data (i.e., National Weather Service’s seven-day quantitative precipitation estimates) and station observations show that the rainfall amount received over most parts of the islands was less than 1 inch.

St. John (Rafe Boulon/Windswept Beach) reported 0.87 inches of rain this week. The depth to water level at Susannaberg DPW 3 well (St. John, USVI) on April 11 was 14.54 ft below land surface, increasing the depth as compared to last week. Thus, St. John remains at the status quo of abnormally dry condition.

On St. Thomas (Cyril E. King Airport), 0.50 inches of rain was reported this week. The depth to water level Grade School 3 well (St. Thomas, USVI) on April 11 was 12.78 ft below land surface with an increasing trend continuing this week. Thus, St. Thomas remained in short-term moderate drought (D1-S).

St. Croix (Henry Rohlsen AP) reported 0.30 inches of rain this week. The depth to water level at Adventure 28 Well (St. Croix, USVI) on April 11 was 29.53 ft below land surface. This indicates an increasing trend in depth of water at St. Croix. If continued, recent rains could ameliorate the drought condition. However, St. Croix remains in long-term severe drought for this week.

Pacific: alaska

hawaii

This week, heavy rainfall was observed across the Marshall Islands, including 7.49 inches of rain on Ailinglapalap. However, little or no rain was reported on Wotje. On Jaluit, only 1.88 inches of rain was observed this week, allowing the island to remain in abnormally dry condition. Kwajalein and Wotje received 0.01 and 0.63 inches of rain this week, respectively. Thus, due to the drier-than-normal conditions, Kwajalein and Wotje remained in short-term moderate drought and severe drought conditions, respectively. On Majuro, 0.91 inches of rain was reported. However, due to heavy rains on Majuro in recent weeks, the island remained free of drought. On Mili, 2.93 inches of rain, with one day missing, was reported this week, allowing the island to be drought free. No depiction was made for Utirik due to missing data.

This week, wet conditions have continued across the Mariana Islands. Rainfall amounts on Guam and Rota were 2.72 and 2.21 inches (one day missing), respectively. Despite 3.39 inches of rainfall last week, 0.49 inches of rain was reported on Saipan (IAP, manual gauge) with one day missing. Thus, Saipan remains drought free this week.

Because of the wet conditions in the past few weeks, American Samoa remained free of drought. This week, Pago Pago received 0.77 inches of rain.

Palau IAP (Airai) reported 0.37 inches this week. Koror COOP station also reported 1.57 inches of rain, allowing the island to be drought free.

Most parts of the Federated States of Micronesia remained drought free. This week, 5.55 inches of rain was reported on Kapingamarangi with two days missing. In addition, Kapingamarangi had significant rains in the past three weeks, improving the island to be drought free. On Kosrae, 4.28 inches of rain was reported this week (with one day missing). Because of the wet conditions in the past few months, Kosrae remained drought free. On Lukunor, only 2.77 inches of rainfall was reported this week (with four days missing), allowing the island to remain drought free. On Nukuoro, 10.27 inches of rain was reported this week (one day missing), allowing the island to be free of drought. Pingelap reported 4.30 inches of rain with one day missing and remained free of drought. On Yap, 2.93 inches of rain (three days missing) was reported this week, and the island remained free of dryness. Fananu reported 7.35 inches of rain and was drought free. On Woleai, 2.49 inches of rain was reported this week (four days missing), so it remains drought free. Heavy rain (5.22 inches with one day missing) was reported on Pohnpei, so the island remained free of dryness. On Chuuk, 5.45 inches of rain was reported this week with one day unaccounted for, allowing the island to be free of dryness. In contrast, only 1.07 inches of rain was reported this week (3 days missing) on Ulithi. Despite a wet January, rainfall amounts in February and March were below normal across the island. In addition, on Ulithi, this is the third week with less than 2 inches of weekly rain reported. Local experts also reported that it is drier than normal. Thus, Ulithi is degraded to abnormally dry this week.

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