The West: A major Pacific storm lashed the West Coast during December 13-17, spreading high winds, heavy rains, and mountain snows from Washington to California and eastward into western Nevada. The storm racked up 8 to 12-inch precipitation totals in 5 days from the San Francisco area northward to the Oregon border area and eastward to the Sierra Nevada. Similar totals accumulated over parts of western Oregon and western Washington. But amounts were generally much lower east of the Cascades, and snowpack remained well behind average in most of the West. The net result was removal of dryness (D0) over central and northern California and coastal Oregon and Washington. There was little change in the drought picture farther inland across the West, with the Southwest and Rockies picking up generally small precipitation totals.

The East: Additional storm systems further reduced long-term precipitation deficits, as rain or snow-equivalent amounts topped 2 inches from northern Virginia to eastern New England. The western Carolinas and northern Georgia recorded similar amounts. The moisture resulted in removal of the D0(W) area from northern Virginia to New Jersey as most drought indicators, including streamflows and wells, were near or above normal. Some wells and reservoirs remained below normal, but they were recovering quite rapidly. Farther south, D0(W) dryness persisted, with some lessening in area, from North Carolina to Georgia, as long-term precipitation deficits continued to cause some wells and reservoirs to remain below normal. D1 (W) drought was removed from Georgia while D1 (W) drought persisted over parts of central South Carolina.

The Midwest and Plains: Little rain or snow fell over the dry areas from the Plains to the Great Lakes region, resulting in continuation of the drought pattern. Drought (D1) expanded slightly northward in Illinois to near the Wisconsin border and D2 drought was introduced to northern Indiana, where rainfall has been persistently below normal since September and streams were near record lows for this time of year.

Hawaii: Long-term moderate drought (D1) conditions persisted on western Molokai while D0 dryness spread over Maui and continued across western portions of the Big Island. Rainfall has been below normal since November in Maui.

Puerto Rico: D0 conditions persisted following a week with light rains. D1 drought was removed following re-assessment of the impacts of the dryness, which have not been significant.

Looking Ahead: Weather conditions which may have an impact over current dry or drought areas this week or in the next 10 days include:(1) heavy showers and thunderstorms from Missouri to the Great Lakes on Wednesday-Thursday, December 17-18, offering some relief from severe short-term dryness; (2) another Pacific storm striking Oregon and California December 19-22 accompanied by heavy rain and snow; (3) rain and snow moving into the Southwest resulting in over 0.5 inches of precipitation across much of Arizona on December 22-23; (4) possible East Coast storm December 25-26.