September 29, 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 2

Northeast: Placeholder

Southeast: Placeholder

South: Placeholder

Midwest: Placeholder

High Plains: Placeholder

West: Placeholder

Caribbean: Placeholder

The U.S. Virgin Islands received scant precipitation over the past week as St. Thomas remained in exceptional drought, while St. John and St. Croix were in extreme drought. Citizen weather observers (CoCoRaHS) on St. Thomas reported 0.1 inches or less for the week. St. Thomas received from 0.24 to 0.57 inches. Rainfall on St. Croix was abysmally low at 0.12 inches or less.

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values were consistent with the drought status of each island for the most part. The SPIs for St. Croix are entering the D4 range, with values for the 1-, 9-, and 12-month SPIs indicating less intense drought, so St. Croix was kept at D3 this week. Exceptional drought may be on the horizon for St. Croix.

The Vegetation Health Index indicates some significant stress for all islands. Water levels in wells on all three islands are dropping as the intense dryness continues.

El Índice de Salud de la Vegetación indica un estrés significativo en todas las islas. Los niveles de agua en los pozos de las tres islas están disminuyendo debido a la intensa sequía.

]]>