| 7/16/2026 | AZ-CN-75 | AZ | Coconino |
Moderately Dry
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Plants & Wildlife
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| Dry conditions causing plants to wither, ground to crack. |
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| 7/16/2026 | CA-HM-208 | CA | Humboldt |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
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| Other than marine layer moisture very dry last four weeks. More wildlife seeking water. |
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| 7/16/2026 | CO-DN-333 | CO | Denver |
Moderately Dry
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Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
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| Haven't had much rain this month, and it's been quite hot and a breeze to dry things even more. Lawn is clearly stressed, only able to water twice. |
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| 7/16/2026 | CO-EL-109 | CO | Elbert |
Severely Dry
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Agriculture
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| Our pastures have been brown since early July. It's too dry to plant millet for hay. The warm season grasses haven't grown, and our cows are starting to search for grazing. |
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| 7/16/2026 | CO-JF-617 | CO | Jefferson |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
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| Even with drought resistant landscaping, the lack of rain combined with strict watering restrictions is beginning to take its toll on plant health. The monsoon can't arrive soon enough. Even so, our water supply has already taken a major hit. Only a wet winter will correct this situation. |
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| 7/16/2026 | IL-WL-63 | IL | Will |
Moderately Dry
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Plants & Wildlife
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| Hot temperatures (90°+) and no rain in last two weeks have necessitated watering plants and placing a sprinkler on newer portions of the lawn. Rate of grass growth has really slowed. My body is enjoying, however, not having to push a mower around the yard every third or fourth day. |
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| 7/16/2026 | IN-LK-26 | IN | Lake |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
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| hot |
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| 7/16/2026 | MD-AA-99 | MD | Anne Arundel |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
|
| Grass browning. No water in flood catch basin |
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| 7/16/2026 | MN-CW-88 | MN | Crow Wing |
Mildly Dry
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Fire
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| AQI is in excess of 500 due to Arrowhead wildfires north of here. With air purifiers and AC, inside AQI is currently very good at 22. Inside is the place to be today. |
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| 7/16/2026 | MN-SC-69 | MN | Scott |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
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| Smoke |
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| 7/16/2026 | MS-HD-25 | MS | Hinds |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
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| A downpour helped but soil is dry and brick hard. I'm seeing raccoons in broad day light after birdseed and a cotton mouth after the birds, a coyote pup after bunnies. |
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| 7/16/2026 | MO-PH-28 | MO | Phelps |
Mildly Wet
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
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| More rain than normal, foliage is very lush. Ponds are full. |
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| 7/16/2026 | MO-PT-8 | MO | Platte |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Business & Industry
Energy
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Relief, Response & Restrictions
Society & Public Health
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Low fire risk with the recent rains we have had. Rivers flowing at near normal levels for this time of year. Good bullfrog hunting. Peaches set well. And are filling out.
Land work has been progressing along. Hay crop is off about 25% due to the drought we had last year and going into this spring. Livestock are good. |
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| 7/16/2026 | NY-OR-33 | NY | Orange |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
Society & Public Health
|
| After a heat wave in early July and three days of heavy rain 7/5-7/7, we now have several dry days and heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires yesterday, today and forecast for tomorrow. Heavy storms yesterday went south of us. People are staying indoors and wearing masks. Pet cats and dogs seem uncomfortable and clingy. It was cooler than forecast yesterday and today, so we dodged another heat wave, but the smoke just makes it look eerie. Some plants with glossy leaves (e.g. rubber trees set outdoors for the summer) have a dusty film on their leaves. |
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| 7/16/2026 | NY-WY-11 | NY | Wyoming |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
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| Mostly sunny and hot with smoke and moderate winds, then cloudy with smoke and warm overnight with light winds. The high temperature was around eighty six degrees, and the low around sixty three degrees Fahrenheit. Songbirds are eating a feederful every day. White Clover, Prunella vulgaris, wild daisies, St. Johnswort, Marshmallow, Soapwort, aqualegia, and Valerian flowers are in full bloom. Blackberries and Red Raspberries are ripening. Early corn is 50" - 72" tall, late corn is 15" - -22"" tall. The third cutting of hay is occurring. Cicadas are emerging. The local intermittent stream is still flowing slightly but dried out downstream and the nearby trout stream is flowing at early summer levels. |
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| 7/16/2026 | NC-CM-42 | NC | Cumberland |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
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| We have had some rain in the past week but it is still very dry |
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| 7/16/2026 | UT-SL-96 | UT | Salt Lake |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| Total precip of about 2" over past 3 months. This is barely over half the normal for that period. Vegetation remains very dry with very high or extreme fire danger at all elevations. |
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| 7/16/2026 | VA-RNC-3 | VA | Roanoke (city) |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
|
| July station rainfall at mid-month is 2.21" almost exactly NOAA normal. Severe deficits remain however in year to date rainfall, at 15.66" (65% of normal, -8.49") and Water Year (Oct. 1 to Jun 30) at 20.10" (60% of normal, -13.39").
The daily (7/15/26) mean flow for the USGS gage on the Roanoke River at Roanoke is at 143 cfs (normal for 7/15 is 236 cfs), now in the Normal category (25-75 percentile) after a decent rise in the past week in response to the near normal basin rainfall the past two weeks. Carvins Cove local water supply reservoir (as of 7/16) continues to fall however, now -15.0 feet below full pond, a -1.1 ft. drop in the past two weeks (now at 65.1% of capacity,-2.2% decrease in past 2 weeks).
The US Drought Monitor (USDM) map issued this morning and valid as of 7/14/26 continues to show Severe Drought (D2) across the entire upper Roanoke Valley with D3 (Extreme) just southeast and northeast. The State of VA Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) declared a Drought Emergency for the Roanoke Drought Evaluation Region as of 7/7. All four categories (precipitation, groundwater, streamflow, reservoirs) had reached 'Emergency' category. Local officials have made requests for voluntary water restrictions. nothing mandatory.
The NWS Weather Prediction Center (WPC) forecast for the next 7 days (thru 7/23) is not optimistic for our area, with a distinct 'rain shadow' across SW VA and up through the Shenandoah Valley, while areas west, east and north receive normal to above normal amounts. The NWS Climate Prediction Center (CPC) 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks (issued 7/15, valid through 7/29) offers slightly enhanced probabilities for above normal rainfall and near normal temperatures. The latest ENSO update from CPC (as of 7/13/26) shows an El Niño present (ENSO 3.4 region at +1.3C, +0.1C in in past 2 weeks). The 3-month RONI index for Apr-May-Jun climbed to +0.5C from 0.0C in Mar-Apr-May, an impressive surge. Forecasts continue to show strengthening, with now an 81% chance of 'Very Strong' (+2.0C anomaly) by Oct-Dec time frame. The impact on regional precipitation patterns remains unclear although some lessening of tropical activity in the Atlantic basin is probable. The Atlantic basin remain quiescent at this time, although a 20% probability for TS development is shown this morning along the SE US coast.
The recent normal rainfall so far in July has has been highly beneficial to local vegetation of all types but this could easily be short-lived given mid-summer heat. Will (reluctantly) upgrade to Moderately Dry conditions locally but anticipate a return to the worst category at my next two-week update. |
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| 7/16/2026 | WI-DA-185 | WI | Dane |
NA
|
|
| The air quality is the worst I've ever seen. Visibility is awful. 89 Poor. |
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| 7/16/2026 | WY-LM-287 | WY | Laramie |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
|
| Nothing in the pasture for the horse to graze. It is very difficult to keep trees and flowers watered. I have not bothered with the grass...there isn't any. |
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