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AXUS73 KAPX 151510
DGTAPX
MIC001-007-009-011-019-029-031-033-039-047-051-055-069-079-089-
097-101-113-119-129-135-137-141-143-165-221200-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Gaylord MI
1010 AM EST Fri Nov 15 2024

...Drought Eases a Bit Across Parts of Northern Michigan...

.SYNOPSIS: Recent rainfall has resulted in an improvement in
drought conditions across eastern Upper and parts of northwest
Lower Michigan. Severe Drought conditions persist across
northeast Lower Michigan.

.DROUGHT INTENSITY AND EXTENT: The following description of
northern Michigan drought conditions is based on the most recent
U.S. Drought Monitor published on November 14, 2024.

Drought Category D2...Severe Drought: Crop or pasture losses
likely...water shortages common. Areas included in drought
category D2 include Presque Isle...Otsego...Montmorency...
Alpena...Kalkaska...Crawford...Oscoda...Alcona...Manistee...
Wexford...Missaukee...Roscommon...Ogemaw...Iosco...Gladwin...and
Arenac counties in northern Lower Michigan.

Drought Category D1...Moderate Drought: Some damage to crops and
pastures...streams or wells low...some water shortages developing
or imminent. Areas included in drought category D1 include
Mackinac and Chippewa counties in eastern Upper Michigan...and
Emmet...Cheboygan...Charlevoix...Leelanau...Antrim...Benzie...and
Grand Traverse counties in northwest Lower Michigan.

This represents a reduction in severe drought conditions across
eastern Upper and parts of northwest Lower Michigan.

.HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS: Precipitation through the summer months
(June- August) was generally from 75 to 125 percent of normal.
Across eastern Upper Michigan June was the wettest month of the
summer with precipitation 150 to 200+ percent of normal...things
started to dry out in July with below normal rainfall though most
areas received at least 50 percent of normal precipitation. A
similar trend was noted in August. Precipitation across all of
northern Michigan was below normal for September (less than 50
percent of normal with some areas less than 25 percent normal).
October precipitation departures were less than 50 percent of
normal across most of the area currently in the D2 drought
category. Rainfall departures of 50 to 75 percent of normal
occurred across most of the area in the D1 drought area (parts of
eastern Upper and northwest Lower Michigan. Alpena and Houghton
Lake both recorded the sixth driest October on record...while
Sault Ste. Marie had its tenth driest October.

So far through the middle of November...precipitation has been
above normal across most of northern Michigan. Many areas have
received more than 150 percent of normal precipitation.  Much of
this occurred during the period of November 3-6 with a swath of
1.50 to 2.00+ inches of rain across eastern Upper Michigan and
the Straits region. More widespread rainfall of 0.25 to 0.50+
inch occurred on November 13-14.

Temperatures for the summer came out pretty much near normal...
September ended up about 3 to 7 degrees above normal. Both Sault
Ste. Marie and Gaylord recorded their warmest September on
record. October temperatures ended up 3 to 6 degrees above
normal...with top ten warmest Octobers on record at Sault Ste.
Marie (6th)...Alpena (8th)...Gaylord (6th)...Pellston (2nd)...and
Traverse City (10th). Monthly temperatures have been above normal
for 11 consecutive months...a string that began in December 2023.

Temperatures have remained above normal to start November...with
temperature departures through mid month of 4 to 6 degrees above
normal.

Soil moisture across northern Lower Michigan is below the 5th
percentile...while across eastern Upper Michigan conditions have
improved due to recent rainfall with most areas now above the 20th
percentile for soil moisture.  Streamflows on northern Michigan
rivers are improving...with normal streamflows on rivers in
eastern Upper and in the Cheboygan and Thunder Bay River basins
in northern Lower Michigan. River gages in the Au Sable/Manistee/
Rifle/Tittabawassee River basins are running near to below normal
streamflows. Gaging stations reporting record low streamflows
for November 15 are as follows:

 Platte River at Honor

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS: No known impacts at this time.

.LOCAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK: Another chance for light rainfall is
expected for this coming weekend...but a wetter period may be in
store beginning Monday November 18.

The 6 to 10 day outlook issued by the Climate Prediction Center
valid from November 20-24 is calling for higher probabilities for
both above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.

The seasonal drought outlook which is valid from November 2024
through the end of January 2025 is predicting an improvement in
drought conditions heading into the winter.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE: This product will be updated Thursday
November 21, 2024.

.RELATED WEB SITES: Additional information on current drought
conditions may be found at the following web addresses:

US Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
US Drought Information System: https://www.drought.gov
NOAA Drought Page: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought

Additional water and river information:

NWS Office of Water Prediction (OWP): https://water.noaa.gov
US Geological Survey (USGS): https://water.usgs.gov
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): https://www.usace.army.mil

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort
involving the National Weather Service and National Centers for
Environmental Information, the USDA, state and regional center
climatologists and the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Information for this statement has been gathered from NWS and FAA
observation sites, state cooperative extension services, the
USDA, USACE and USGS.

.CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have questions or comments about
this Drought Information Statement, please contact:

National Weather Service
8800 Passenheim Road
Gaylord, MI 49735
Phone...989-731-3384
w-apx.webmaster@noaa.gov

$$

JPB