02/29/2024

Last week, the Southern Region experienced dry conditions and hotter-than-normal temperatures throughout the majority of the climate region. The story of the week is wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, with the first incident in the area spanning over four thousand acres in Moore County, discovered on Saturday, February 24th around 9 PM. There were other fire incidents impacting hundreds of acres in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas over the past weekend. These incidents were caused by hotter-than-normal conditions, which depleted soil moisture across our region. Aided by low relative humidity and an overall lack of rainfall, areas in the Southern region impacted by drought have increased to 41.75%. The only improvement in the region was in the New Orleans area, which was ameliorated of drought.

Looking to the future, areas currently impacted by ongoing wildfires will experience even drier conditions due to depletion in soil moisture and affected soil becoming water-repellant. The National Weather Service has rainfall forecasted for the eastern portions of our region for Monday. Any precipitation that falls on wildfire-affected soil will not be absorbed, increasing the chances of flooding. On the west side of the Southern region, the Texas Panhandle and west Oklahoma are under red flag warnings and a fire weather watch due to drought conditions and gusty winds. Next week’s drought update may show more expansion of drought-affected areas in our region.