Mid Atlantic Drought Diminishes

The Drought Monitor for the week ending April 21 shows that the recent rains have removed the Mid Atlantic area from the Moderate Drought category. Thanks to a precipitation deficit extending back into the last quarter of 2008, however, the area still remains at the minimal level of Abnormally Dry. All of Maryland and most of Virginia are in this category, and the dry area extends northeastward through Delaware, the southern half of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and into extreme southwestern New England.

In the immediate Washington, DC region, the driest area extends from the northern Shenandoah Valley eastward through northern Virginia, the District of Columbia, and southern Maryland, where most places have seen only 50-75% of average precipitation over the last 90 days.

Through this morning, here are the year-to-date precipitation totals and departures from average for the Nation's Capital area:

Washington National: 9.11"/-20%
Washington Dulles:   9.19"/-21%
Baltimore (BWI):    10.77"/-14% 

Images (click to enlarge): 90-day percentage of normal precipitation from NWS, Washington DC precipitation vs. average from Climate Prediction Center