| 5/18/2026 | CO-BO-596 | CO | Boulder |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
|
| It’s raining as I submit this, and received 0.40” in last 24 hrs. Month to date: 2.39”, 150% of avg (avg is 1.59”). Year to date: 4.75”, 66% of avg (avg is 7.18”). Water year to date 6.23”, 61% of avg (avg is 10.14”).
We are supposed to have rain (snow?) all day/continuing poss through Thursday. Orig total forecast was for over 2” now it’s backing off. This precip helps but still drought lingers.
We have already had a 90F day in May. While not as out of season as March was, May has been warmer than average. The precipitation this month is helping, and I am backing down a category of drought, but we still have a significant deficit of precipitation, soils have been dry, vegetation is suffering.
Creeks and springs in the foothills have been low or absent. Wildflowers in wild
spaces are greatly diminished. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | CO-DL-54 | CO | Delta |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Energy
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Only a trace of rain last week. Hazy and breezy most days. The view was not that great. The soil is dry. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | CO-EP-291 | CO | El Paso |
Moderately Dry
|
|
| Unwatered lawns are brown; some weeds showing signs of drought. Also, fewer weeds have germinated because it has been so dry. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | CO-JF-72 | CO | Jefferson |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Today is cool with a steady light rain falling. Grass continues to get green, but is not lush whatsoever. Still pretty dry everywhere despite the current moisture. Trees looking pretty good overall. Need much more moisture. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | CT-NH-43 | CT | New Haven |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Soil moisure levels are near normal, lawns, trees and vegetation are healthy and nearby rivers and reservoirs are at normal levels. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | FL-MR-88 | FL | Marion |
Severely Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Currently moderating our water useage and using spot irrigation only. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | FL-PN-99 | FL | Pinellas |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Relief, Response & Restrictions
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Florida’s West Central Gulf of America area remains very, very dry—it’s been a long time since we’ve had a good rainfall. This past week brought us only 0.44” of rain spread over two days. Most of our area remain under severe water use restrictions with lawn watering being restricted to only a few hours on one specific day. The restrictions are being enforced by city and county “water police”—and there are no warnings—even first time offenders will be fined heavily. Tourist/visitor activity continues at a high rate, making local businesses happy. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | GA-DK-51 | GA | DeKalb |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| No cracks in the ground yet, but lawn mowing is kicking up dust. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IL-WL-131 | IL | Will |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
|
| Conditions still near normal, but May precip has been lacking in quantity. Presently 1.75" below the MTD avg. Vegetation is still thriving and farmers have been tilling their low areas.
The Calendar and Water YTD numbers still in the near normal range. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IL-WM-31 | IL | Williamson |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Ground is dry, dusty when mowing, garden plants needing rain. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IN-VG-24 | IN | Vigo |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Energy
Plants & Wildlife
Society & Public Health
|
| Only watering in isolated areas that are shaded from open to normal rain fall. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IA-BT-11 | IA | Benton |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
|
| At last the predicted rains for the area arrived in small amounts relieving the stress of the dry top soil. Still, with those gentle rains over several days did not had up to an inch but much appreciated by the field crops. All vegetation seemed to react with a boost of sudden growth. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IA-MA-16 | IA | Marion |
Moderately Wet
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Tourism & Recreation
|
| Soil is very wet right now. Low lying areas have or are starting to pool with standing water. Rain has made planted soybean and corn fields pop up very quickly. Some activities, such as baseball, were canceled due to water on the fields. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | IA-WS-12 | IA | Washington |
Near Normal
|
Agriculture
|
| Received the first measurable rain in 18 days over the weekend. Much needed rain to get the pre emergent herbicides in the ground and working. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | KS-RL-95 | KS | Riley |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Small 1-2" cracks in the heavily clay-based soils have started to form. Birds quickly congregate around sprinklers and even the smallest puddles of water. Only the native buffalo grasses seem to be doing fine while the lawn fescues are struggling without irrigation. Young trees with new leaf growth are starting to show signs of stress, including downturned leaves which are limp and wilting. Pollinators have limited selection as many of the flowers have stalled, waiting for rain. The 6/100the we had last night did little to ease the dry conditions. Today, the warm wind further evaporated any moisture left over in the soil. They are forecasting 2-4" of rain over the next 36 hours which is much needed, so long as it doesn't all come down in 2 hours' time! |
|
| 5/18/2026 | KS-RO-6 | KS | Rooks |
Severely Dry
|
Agriculture
|
| Blowing dust after 0.30 day before, honestly driest I have ever seen in memory of 78 yr old farmer. use the numbers correctly for the drought monitor, this is NOT seasonal !! |
|
| 5/18/2026 | KY-KN-15 | KY | Kenton |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Plants continue to thrive with regular rainfall and moist soil. Birds are active, singing, and young birds are taking flight. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | ME-LN-30 | ME | Lincoln |
Mildly Wet
|
|
| 3.35 inches of rain for the week 5/10 - 5/17. Surface soil wet with puddles in low areas. Small stream on property has above normal flow but not flooding. Still long term below average precipitation. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | ME-SM-3 | ME | Somerset |
Mildly Dry
|
|
| Weekly rain total: 0.59", Mx 78.0°/Mn 31.4°, full blown spring - all ephemerals in blossom as well as bushes (cherry, service berry, shadbush, early fruit}, maples leaves "frog belly" size, and, of course, blackfly season has started. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MA-NF-68 | MA | Norfolk |
Near Normal
|
|
| over the last week, lawns are being mowed. Asparagus has finished and is going to fern. some flowering fruit trees are shedding their flowers and beginning to fruit. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MA-WR-44 | MA | Worcester |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| The rocks are showing in the reservoir even after the rain we had last week. Farmers at the Agricultural Committee in town are complaininng about dry conditions. Trees seem to leafing out more slowly. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MI-WY-33 | MI | Wayne |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
|
| While surface is moist, depth is dry |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MN-CW-44 | MN | Crow Wing |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Relief, Response & Restrictions
Tourism & Recreation
|
| perennials are slow starting. Wind is horrible and blowing dust affects my sinuses. Tulips didn't last as long. Many dead areas on the lawn from dryness - been too cold to hook up hoses. Huge 1200 acre fire north of here on Sat/Sun - just north of the Cuyunna Rec Area - an active tourist spot. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MN-MR-20 | MN | Morrison |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Tiller the garden and the soul is completely dry. Will not plan until we get some rain. Also played a tree and the deeper hole I dug was unusably dry. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MN-WR-42 | MN | Wright |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
|
| dry soil down several inches, browning of grass, spring flowering blossoms lasting only a few days vs several in a normal spring |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MS-CH-3 | MS | Coahoma |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
|
| Weekly precip = 0.75 inches. Weekly min/max temp = 52/89. A heavy thunderstorm last Sunday night brought anywhere from 3/4 to 2 plus inches on all our farmland (gauge location was near the least amount we saw). Some of our beans in the Rena Lara area were flooded for around 24 hours. It was a dry and warm week after that with lots of bright hot sunshine. Ground conditions are moist and rather soft now (much softer than when we planted). By Thursday it was dry enough to do some replanting of soybeans as well as spraying and plowing out middles. Corn is in rapid growth stage. Landscape is very green. Drought conditions have improved to the "mildly dry category". Since Friday a constant South wind continues to increase humidity levels. Feeling much more like summer. Lots of rain chances in the coming week. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MS-WR-7 | MS | Warren |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| while rain has fallen there is a need for much more. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MO-JF-21 | MO | Jefferson |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Gains we made at the end of April are offset by the mostly dry conditions so far in May,although it hasn’t been extremely hot. Lots of rain predicted this week. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MT-GN-11 | MT | Gallatin |
Moderately Dry
|
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Summertime trail conditions and watering fruit trees. Very early summer wildflowers. Mowing a week apart rather than a few days. Rivers may have peaked. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | MT-LY-2 | MT | Liberty |
Severely Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Rain and very light snow amounted to .39 inch for the past week. The moisture only infiltrated 2-3 inches of topsoil and due to strong winds gusting to 60 mph, much of that near surface moisture was lost within a day. Blowing dust occurred on Wednesday, Thursday, and early Friday. Visibility was reduced to less than 1/4 mile Wednesday afternoon. Pasture growth continues lackluster. A hard freeze occurred Monday (18th) which set back garden plants again. Although our normal last freeze is May 22nd, growing degree days (base 50) this year are 2-3 times normal, allowing plants to get off to an early start. Stock water supplies are low. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NH-MR-70 | NH | Merrimack |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| After 2.81" of rain in the past four days, everything is greening up nicely. There are definite signs of drought still apparent, but they will hopefully disappear. Streams, brooks and rivers are running full. Ponds and the lakes are finally full. Trees are fully leaved out. Some trees that aren't fully leaved show signs of permanent drought damage. Planted crops are popping up. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NJ-MN-116 | NJ | Monmouth |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Needing to water vegetables and new natives daily. Top layer of soli dusty dry. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NM-BR-233 | NM | Bernalillo |
Severely Dry
|
General Awareness
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Relief, Response & Restrictions
Society & Public Health
|
| several more days of low RH with swirling canyon winds have soil surface very dried. Birds and wildlife seeking water. Further blooming and growth of vegetation seems retarded. Frequent poor air quality.. Extreme fire start and spread risk. Burn and power equipment restrictions seem warranted. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NY-BM-14 | NY | Broome |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
|
| Rainfall below normal this past week while sunshine and temperatures have been above normal the last 2 days drying the ground. Local farmer planted the field along the river about a week ago. Tilled my garden this past weekend. Ground there was slightly damp but workable. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NY-DT-24 | NY | Dutchess |
Mildly Wet
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Mildly wet – 0.11 inches of rain. Patiently awaiting results of the coming week. Sunday was hottest day to date this year and next 3 days likely to be the same.
Birds and small animals active. Black walnuts and black tupelo leafing. Most oaks burnt by frost and have not bounced back yet. Oak treetops leafing on higher elevation. (see pictures oaks and hedgerow) Mulberry, and sumac delayed leafing. Noticed Daffodil stems much larger than usual and my Peonies are producing massive sized flower shoots. Lawn mowed every 4-5th day. Mill Road Pond running high. Vegetable farmer active.
NYC Reservoirs near normal at 99.6% of capacity compared to normal of 100.0%. Consumption is normal at 0.96 billion gallons for the week.
|
|
| 5/18/2026 | NY-OS-38 | NY | Oswego |
Moderately Wet
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Mowed for the first time this year yesterday, May 17. Still many parts of the yard too wet to mow, several other yards in the area still haven't been mowed. Standing water is still common and the ground still wrings water as you walk on it towards the weather station.
The spring has been unusually wet, 14.45" of precipitation since March 1, and groundwater conditions are similar to what we expect in early April following the snowmelt. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NY-SL-21 | NY | St. Lawrence |
Mildly Wet
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Society & Public Health
|
| About 3/4" of precipitation in the past week and it shows! Everything that is green is popping out of the earth with many items looking lush. The last trees to break bud are. Red maple leaves are well sized. Sadly, some branches that died on trees possibly due to last year's drought are now clearly visible. Crabapples are in full bloom and lilacs and regular apples are just starting to open. Temps continued cool until two days ago when someone turned the heat on. The sudden moisture has driven up smells! It smells like dirt and flowers.
Some mowers are on their third mow by now.
Recently warm temperatures are causing some tentative garden work, but overall, I anticipate a shortened growing season ahead.
A ruby throated hummingbird has been a regular visitor. Swallows soar high along with a killdeer. Still have not seen the elusive mockingbird, but it's presence is strong as it's designed-to-be-impressive dominant cacaphony has taken over almost all of the dawn chorus. A Barred Owl however, snuck in a cute "Who Cooks For You?" call a couple of early mornings ago. Trust the owls to keep all of the rest of the birds in check.
Other wildlife observed: many mosquitos and bees, 2 bunnies, and 3 toads.
Allergies have been low.
Almost in time for Memorial Day, spring has finally arrived! |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NY-WY-11 | NY | Wyoming |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Partly sunny and warm with light winds, then mostly cloudy and warm overnight with light winds. The high temperature was around seventy eight degrees, and the low around sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Songbirds are eating a feederful every day. Butterflies are emerging. Hawthorn leaves, White Ash tree buds, Hackberrry tree buds, Apple Tree flowers, Black Cherry flowers, Black Walnut leaves, Jewelweed leaves, Johnny-Jump-Up flowers, wild strawberry flowers, and Bush Honeysuckle flowers are appearing. The local intermittent stream and nearby trout stream are flowing at spring levels. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | NC-MS-18 | NC | Madison |
Severely Dry
|
General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| The top soil is dry and dusty. The paths in the woods are dry and dusty. The creeks are dry or almost dry. A stick going down the springs comes up dry. Yet the grass is green, the apples, pears and blueberries are getting bigger. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | OH-FL-23 | OH | Fulton |
Mildly Wet
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
|
| Despite appearance, the soil is still wet under the first inch of soil. Most area farmers are getting out in the fields, and farmer that is our neighbor is still waiting to get into field due to wet conditions. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | OH-GR-49 | OH | Greene |
Near Normal
|
Plants & Wildlife
|
| We have received about 3/4 of inch of rain in the past week and soil conditions are moist but not saturated. Overall conditions appear normal for this time of the season. All the trees and bushes have now leafed out. Grasses are growing well and flowering plants that typically flower at this time are in full bloom. Birds have continued to be active with searching for food and foraging for nest material. Small mammals are also very active in search of food. Common insects such as ants and bees are out in force now. We have been visited by more deer during the day than usual, their coats have changed to brown for the spring through summer season. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | OH-ST-12 | OH | Stark |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| 0.26" of rain this week, 4.08" in the last 30 days. Wheat fields are doing well in most places. Corn is up. Field work continues. No standing water is visible, although there are still some soft spots. Lawn is green and grows rapidly. Most trees are fully leafed out now except for some oaks, which are just getting started. Creeks are running at normal levels, ponds remain full. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | OK-MY-10 | OK | Mayes |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Warm temperatures and just a trace of rain last week combined to dry things out considerably. The vegetation is still green and pretty lush, but lawn growth has slowed considerably. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | OK-MY-12 | OK | Mayes |
Mildly Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Only a trace of precipitation this week. Windy and warm the last several days. The yard is turning brown as the weeds are drying up and dying back. I have started watering my vegetable garden routinely and if the wind ever stops, I’ll water my flower beds. Things are dry. I watered my youngest trees as they are starting to show signs of stress. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | PA-CD-30 | PA | Cumberland |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
Fire
Tourism & Recreation
|
| record heat is forecast for today |
|
| 5/18/2026 | PA-NM-3 | PA | Northumberland |
Near Normal
|
General Awareness
|
| This is a spring like I remember. Ground is moist but firm. Pond is almost full. Grass and plants are wearing various shades of green. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | SC-HR-172 | SC | Horry |
Severely Dry
|
General Awareness
|
| Garden plant seedlings have to be watered 2 or 3 times daily due to heat, sun and lack of rain. No mushrooms for weeks,
and lots of birds to the bird bath. No water restrictions yet, but "helpful advice" noted on a downtown Conway billboard, that suggested watering outside between 1:00 am and 5:00 am to "keep the pressure up". (There's a watertower there.) |
|
| 5/18/2026 | SC-SM-30 | SC | Sumter |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Energy
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Society & Public Health
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Out of town from midday on 6 May until late yesterday afternoon (16 May). Driving home, the Congaree River at I-77 south of Columbia was very low with lots of shoreline showing. Same with the Wateree River crossing US 76/378 between Sumter and Columbia. Neither river had any boats visible, especially for a Saturday. While out of town, there was 0.34” accumulated in the CoCoRHaS gage for the entire period. Local non irrigated lawns now showing dirt through the dead spots. Still calling it Moderately Dry, as we’re still not under any Mandatory or Voluntary water conservation measures. The US Drought Monitor has our area in a “D2 - Severe Drought” category. Roadside grass brown and dry. SC Forestry app showing 51 wildfires across the state. Weather turning quite a bit warmer with more mosquitos about. Birds and squirrels really draining the feeders. From Data Explorer: May Precip: 0.60” (-1.35”/31% of NOAA normal). For the year: 6.71” (-8.91”/43% of NOAA normal). Last 30 Days: 0.67”; NOAA normal: 6.71”. Last 90 days: 3.68”; NOAA normal 13.62”. |
|
| 5/18/2026 | TN-PT-3 | TN | Pickett |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Tourism & Recreation
|
| Pond is down 18 inches. Grass is turning brown and not growing. Garden is very dry and plants not growing very much.
Farm fields show little growth.
Dale Hollow Lake is still near winter pool that the Corps pulls it down to allow for spring rains we didn't get |
|
| 5/18/2026 | TN-SM-1 | TN | Smith |
Moderately Dry
|
General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Garden not doing good |
|