Already we're having to water the lawn regularly. And this image tells us why - we're about only 10% of our normal rainfall for the past 30 days. It shows the opposite of a typical rainfall radar by displaying a lack of rain (as a percentage below normal) with red colors representing the least amount of rain. The scale on the right ranges from 0% (red) to 600% (purple).The image is available from AHPS Precipitation Analysis, (Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service), provided by the National Weather Service. On the 3 rows of tabs, select Water, then Precipitation, then Images to get to this view. You can select the look-back time span, the absolute and relative rainfall and geographical focus.
Another interesting site records the effect of too little rainfall - drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor Archives allows you to display two U.S. maps comparing drought conditions at any point in time since January 2000. Here's a view comparing the first weeks of January and June 2008 (yellows and reds display the severity of drought). It shows the lack of rainfall in TX has caused an extension of drought conditions so far this year, while most notably the drought conditions in the Southeast have improved considerably. (Click on images to see larger versions.)
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