State soaks up rain; drought eases

Parts of three counties still extremely dry

Heavy rains last week helped reduce the drought in southern Arkansas, and forecasters predict that more rainfall this weekend will continue to help improve conditions.

According to the Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, portions of only three counties - Bradley, Calhoun and Union - were considered as remaining in extreme drought.

Last week, the center rated 14 southern Arkansas counties as having extreme drought conditions. Extreme drought is designated to an area with a deficit of 4-9 inches of rain in a 30-day period.

Conditions also improved in Northwest Arkansas. In all, 54 percent of the state is in some form of drought this week, compared with 63 percent of the state last week.

Southern Arkansas received most of the week’s rainfall.

Texarkana, which last week was considered in extreme drought, received 6.68 inches of rain last Friday and Saturday. Before that, the Miller County city recorded only 0.23 inch of rainfall from Aug. 14 through Sept. 16, which worsened drought conditions there.

Bluff City in Nevada County recorded 6.05 inches of rain last Friday and Saturday. Hope received 6 inches of rain and Arkadelphia 4.52 inches.

In Cleveland County, farms received 3-5 inches of rain those two days.

“It was a good rain, but the ground soaked up most of the moisture,” said Cleveland County cooperative extension agent Les Walz.

“It greened up the forage, but the last cuttings of hay were down. Our first two were OK, but the drought got pretty much the best of the third.”

He said early season rains helped farmers reap more hay, and they now have a surplus stored for livestock this winter.

“We should be OK,” Walz said.

Last week, 14 percent of the state - mainly in the southern tier - was in extreme drought. This week only 1.8 percent of the state remained in that classification.

National Weather Service meteorologists are calling for even more rain this weekend.

A system is predicted to move into the state late Saturday, bringing rainfall through the late evening and into Sunday before leaving Arkansas, said National Weather Service warning coordinator John Robinson of North Little Rock.

“A vast majority of the state will see a decent rain,” he said, predicting between a half inch and 1.5 inches.

It appears the state’s weather has returned to a more normal pattern with more frequent rain showers. Long-range forecasts include more rain than normal for the rest of the year, Robinson said.

A stalled ridge of high pressure over the state had kept rain-producing systems away for the past several weeks.

Robinson said that high pressure also forced any Gulf of Mexico moisture away from Arkansas, including any tropical storms that could have brought needed rainfall.

The hurricane season ends on Nov. 1, but Robinson said it’s late to be thinking of any drought-breaking rainfall from tropical storm remnants.

“The fronts moving in will block those systems, if there are any,” Robinson said. “This late in the year, they will typically move into south Texas, Mexico or up the southeastern U.S. [Atlantic] coast. Our chances diminish, basically,every day.”

The rainfall last week also helped Arkansas Forestry Commission rangers.

Firefighters did not report any wildfires Thursday, said Sheila Doughty, a forestry commission spokesman.

“The rain has made a big difference,” she said. “We’ve not had any problems for the last couple of days.”

Last week, when drought conditions were extreme in Drew County, rangers fought a wildfire that burned nearly 2,200 acres.

Because of the rain, the commission did not operate any detection flights - where pilots fly over wooded areas in search of fires - this week, Doughty said.

The commission said 24 southern and central Arkansans counties were rated moderate for wildfires, and Doughty urged residents to remain cautious when burning debris.

“We’ve had rain now, but grasses and other light fuels will dry out quickly,” she said. “People need to be mindful of this, and if they are burning, they need to have tools and a water source nearby.”

Arkansas, Pages 16 on 09/27/2013

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