Rain spread across the Washington region over the past week, dropping roughly 2 to 5 inches in the seven days through Memorial Day and giving parched ground its first broad relief in weeks.
Brian LaSorsa said the rainfall fell across the entire area, a pattern that mattered almost as much as the amount. “And it’s occurred across the entire area, which is good,” he said.
The rain arrived after the whole region was in severe drought on May 19, a harsh turn for an area where conditions had been worsening before the storm system moved through. In April, 31% of the region met the severe drought classification. The next U.S. Drought Monitor update was expected on Thursday, and some parts of the area were likely to slide back to moderate drought rather than stay in the worst category.
The improved outlook does not mean the drought is over. The rain at Reagan National Airport over the past year was still about 10 inches below normal, a deficit that shows how much ground the region has to make up. The U.S. Drought Monitor, updated weekly by federal agency and research partners, will reflect only the latest step in a longer recovery.
LaSorsa said as much. “This wasn’t enough to break the drought, but it does help a little bit,” he said. “We’d have to have several more events like this, and of course, if you get a tropical system or something like that, that could break the drought as well,” he said.
The slower pace of the rain made it especially useful because it had time to soak in rather than run off. That kind of rainfall can do more for dry soils than a short, intense burst, and it helps explain why the region is expected to see some improvement even if the broader drought remains in place. The immediate question now is not whether the drought improved, but how much of the region can climb out of severe drought when Thursday’s update arrives.
