The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects in its Spring Outlook that the most intense drought conditions across most of the United States will shrink to their lowest levels since 2020.
Drought conditions will continue to improve in the Southwest and Midwest through the spring, according to the NOAA, but parts of the high plains will continue to experience drought.
As of Tuesday, the high plains are the most impacted by extreme drought, particularly in Kansas. The majority of the continental United States west of the Mississippi is experiencing drought while to the east it is largely contained to Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico and small portions along the East Coast.
"Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes, as illustrated by NOAA's observations and data that inform this seasonal outlook," Rick Spinrad, NOAA administrator, said in a statement.
California continues to recover from multiple weather phenomena, including more than 10 atmospheric rivers throughout the winter. Mountainous northern California remains buried under feet of snow, with higher-altitude regions reporting up to a foot of heavy, wet snow in a 24-hour period, KCRA 3 in Sacramento reports.
The spring is expected to bring flooding to the upper Mississippi River region, particularly from Minneapolis to St. Louis, due in part to melting snow. Ed Clark, NOAA's director of its National Weather Center, said in a statement that about 44% of the United States is at risk of flooding.
"California's historic snowpack, coupled with spring rain, is heightening the potential for spring floods," Clark said.
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