DAYTON — Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you. Meteorologist Nick Dunn here to discuss something perhaps not many think about this time of year. Drought conditions continue to be an issue across parts of the Miami Valley.
The latest drought monitor looks very similar to late 2025. Extreme Drought conditions continue to grip parts of Mercer, Auglaize, and Randolph Counties. To the southeast of that there are Severe and Moderate Drought conditions down to near Richmond, Greenville, and Wapakoneta.
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When we look back to this time 3 months ago, the statistics remain largely unchanged. But, how can this be? We certainly have had a very snowy winter here in the Miami Valley. Would that not be enough to wipe out drought? Not in this case.
The biggest issue is the snow we have received does not convert to as much liquid as you might think. With around 35″ of snow this season, that converts to about 3 inches of liquid. Soil moisture at greater depths in the soil has not been replenished after what was a dry late Summer and Fall for some.
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Let’s put this into a different perspective! If we look at the last 6 months, those in the worst of the drought conditions have seen only 5 to 25 percent of normal precipitation. You can see others are also running fairly dry, but not to the extent the northwestern counties are.
Could conditions expand further south? It is not out of the question as we are running a current deficit of 1.5-2.5″ of precipitation since the new year started. We could use some rain to help things out a bit before we get into the growing season!