Despite rain, the Drought Monitor shows little change for Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a mostly hot and dry beginning to the summer, Middle Tennessee finally began to receive some much-needed rainfall this past week.

Many areas in Middle Tennessee, especially from Interstate 40 southward, have been considered to be in drought conditions.

Despite the rainfall, the Drought Monitor issued Thursday morning showed little change. The latest monitor was based on rainfall amounts between Tuesday, July 16 and Tuesday, July 23.

Some parts of southern Middle Tennessee are still facing extreme drought, while other areas are in severe to moderate drought, especially around Interstate 40.

News 2 spoke with Ryan Husted, warning coordinating meteorologist with the National Weather Service, about the update and where there actually were some slight improvements.

“While the rain we have received over the past few days and the past week has been great, it hasn’t been enough to overcome the dryness we experienced from the start of June until now,” Husted said. “We have a lot of rainfall that we need to catch up. That’s why we only had minor changes this last outlook.”

Husted added that some counties have seen relief.

“Lincoln County, down here in southern Middle Tennessee, Sumner, Wilson, and Smith counties — and then finally, Pickett and Fentress counties,” Husted explained. “These are areas that have received significant rainfall over the last week. The drought conditions have improved somewhat in these locations.”

There is at least some hope ahead. The six to 10 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center still keeps Middle Tennessee in slightly above normal precipitation, and the 30-day Outlook for August has us a little above normal, as well.

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