Most of Midland County continues to be drought-free heading into October, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
According to the website that collects measures allowing experts to assess droughts in the United States, only 0.45% of the county is abnormally dry, including a sliver of the southwest portion of the county.
Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Rocky Bilotta, a physical scientist with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), authored a drought monitor report stating that half of the rangeland and pastures in Texas are in very poor to poor condition. Moreover, they reported that Texas leads the country with 48% of its cotton rated in very poor to poor condition; however, drought conditions in the state have improved.
"Texas saw improvement in some northern and central areas, along with a large expansion of abnormal dryness in the east-central part of the state," said Rippey and Bilotta.
A forecast for Oct. 1 to Oct. 5 by the National Weather Service indicates that the Southwest area of the country will experience warm weather while temperatures across the rest of the country remain near- or above-normal. Wetter-than-normal precipitation is expected in western Washington, peninsular Florida, and much of the Northeast.