May 5, 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/.

Weather Summary: Placeholder

Northeast: Placeholder

Southeast: Placeholder

South: Placeholder

Midwest: Placeholder

High Plains: Placeholder

West: Placeholder

Caribbean: Placeholder

Little to no precipitation fell across the U.S. Virgin Islands this week. St. Croix recorded between 0.13 inches to trace amounts. Similarly, St. John recorded 0.3 inches and St. Thomas recorded only trace amounts of rain. The Adventure 28 Well (St. Croix) recorded water depth of 20.72 ft. as of this week. This is 0.2 feet lower compared to last week and 3.56 feet lower compared to last year. The Susannaberg DPW 3 Well (St. John) recorded a water depth of 13.44 feet as of this week. This is 0.2 feet lower compared to last week and 3.63 feet lower compared to last year. The Grade School 3 Well (St. Thomas) has a water depth of 7.64 feet as of this week. This is 1.7 feet lower than last week and 2.77 feet lower compared to last year. Despite little-to-no rainfall, short-term SPI values are showing mostly neutral conditions, leaving all islands free of abnormal dryness or drought.

Pacific: Placeholder

Placeholder

Rain was mixed across the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The islands of Jaluit and Majuro received adequate rainfall with 4.32 and 2.06 inches of rain this week, respectively. Kwajalein and Ailingalapalap saw 1.82 and 1.98 inches respectively, while Utirik, Wotje and Mili received less than half an inch of rain this week (0.31”, 0.3” and 0,1”). Despite some islands receiving little precipitation, decent precipitation during the prior weeks kept all islands free of abnormal dryness or drought.

The Federated States of Micronesia received heavy precipitation across most island, with some islands experiencing over 4 inches of precipitation. This heavy precipitation led to Lukunor abnormally dry conditions being improved to no dryness. Ulithi received 0.78 inches of rain this week and remains in abnormal dryness. Yap, despite receiving 4.39 inches of rain, remains in abnormal dryness due to poor precipitation over the previous weeks. Woleai (1.42”), Chuuk Lagoon (5.7”), Nukuoro (5.28”), Kapingamarangi (2.56”), Pohnpei (5.4”) and Kosrae (5.51”) all remain free of abnormal dryness.

The Republic of Palau remains abnormally dry with Koror recording 1.4 inches of rain this week following a dry April.

The Marianas Islands saw a mix of light and moderate precipitation this week. Guam saw a mix of decent to good precipitation with Dededo recording 0.31 inches, Agat with 1.62 inches and the airport 1.40 inches of rain this week. Saipan and Rota received 0.51 and 0.32 inches respectively. While the prior two weeks saw poor precipitation, well above normal precipitation from the typhoon has mitigated some of this dryness though Rota still has several weeks with missing data. Tinian data is missing.

American Samoa experienced wet week, with Pago Pago receiving 3.45 inches of rain. Additionally, the Siufaga and Toa Ridge received 2.64 inches and 2.62 inches of rain this week, respectively. American Samoa will remain free of drought and dryness.

Placeholder

]]>