While the weather may be very rocky and stormy the next few days for the beginning of April, the rain falling from the sky will be beneficial for many spots of the country. Many different sections of the Contiguous United States have been far drier than normal, including parts of the Northeast, Southeast, and Plains. In this first week of April we’ll have a pretty good shot at several inches of precipitation.
Let’s begin the conversation with where we stand as of April 1. You’ll find two images below. The first one is the precipitation compared to average (or ‘normal’) during the past 30 days, so mostly all of March. Then you’ll see the drought monitor update which shows where the driest and most severe locations are regarding ongoing drought.


Next, you’ll see three more maps from our WeatherNation forecast for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. This will show the series of storm systems that will bring some beneficial rain to parts of the country.



Our team of meteorologists are WeatherNation is closely monitoring and forecasting two strong low pressure systems to move east this weekend/week. The first will bring severe weather to the deep South Sunday and Monday, while another low pressure system will bring a renewed threat of heavy precipitation and heavy thunderstorms to much of the country between Tuesday through Thursday. Widespread precipitation of one to three inches will be possible, with up to eight inches plausible across parts of the Gulf Coast!

Finally we’ll take a look at an image provided by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and its partners regarding what this precipitation will do for the ongoing drought.

This is very welcomed news and a good forecast as we head into the growing season for much of the Plains, South, and East. Let’s just hope more locations get caught up with rainfall in the coming weeks. Remember all this water will come with a threat of severe weather, so we want you to be weather aware this week!
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier