April 28, 2026 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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Each of the islands remains free of drought and dryness this week. CoCoRaHS stations across St. Croix Island recorded anywhere from 0.11” to 1.02” this week. St. John Island recorded anywhere between 0.37” and 0.66” of rain this week. The Windswept Beach station recorded 0.63” of rain this week. St. Thomas Island had received 0.41” of rain this week from CoCoRaHS stations. The Adventure 28 Well recorded water depth of 20.54 ft. as of this week. This is 0.04 ft. lower compared to last week and 3.36 ft. lower compared to last year. The Susannaberg DPW 3 Well recorded a water depth of 13.2 ft. as of this week. This is 0.11 ft. lower compared to last week and 3.43 ft. lower compared to last year. The Grade School 3 Well has a water depth of 5.92 ft. as of this week. This is 2.48 ft. lower than last week and 1.07 ft. lower compared to last year.

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Rain was plentiful across the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The islands of Jaluit, Mili, and Utirik received adequate rainfall, receiving 3.76”, 5.05” and 2.28” of rain this week. Other places, such as Ailingalapalap, Kwajalein, Majuro and Wotje received 1.34”, 1.28”, 1.71”, and 1.6” respectively. Nevertheless, each island remains free of drought and dryness.

Abnormal dryness has expanded to several islands across the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Ulithi and Yap will be receiving 1-category degradation to abnormal dryness. A combination of inadequate precipitation and dry grasses contributed to the degradation. Both Ulithi and Yap received 1.13” and 1.5” of rain this week, respectively. Woleai remains free of drought and dryness, but given that it received 0.61” of rain, this island might receive a 1-category degradation should inadequate rainfall continue next week. Lukunor remains in abnormal dryness, receiving only 0.09” of rain this week. Other islands in the FSM received plentiful rain. Kapingamarangi, Kosrae and Nukuoro received 3.71”, 7.8” and 2.85” of rain this week. Chuuk Lagoon received 1.24” of rain this week but will remain free of drought and dryness this week.

The Republic of Palau will receive a 1-category degradation to abnormal dryness. Monthly precipitation totals across the island are at the lowest recorded for the month of April. Koror has received 0.36” of rain this week and has received 1.73” for the month. Additionally, the WSO in Palau received 0.3” of rain this week and has received 1.15” of rain for the month.

The Marianas Islands continue to experience the impacts of the typhoon that passed in the middle of the month. Due to this, precipitation measurements are either missing or low and may have exposure issues. Due to this, each of the islands will maintain last week’s categories and will remain free of drought and dryness. American Samoa experienced a dry week, with Pago Pago receiving 0.77” of rain. Additionally, the Siufaga and Toa Ridge received 0.97” and 0.43” of rain this week, respectively. American Samoa will remain free of drought and dryness.

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