(NDAgConnection.com) – Fronts, lows, and upper-level troughs brought above-normal precipitation to parts of the Pacific Northwest, northern Plains to western Great Lakes, and spotty areas in the South, New England, and along the Atlantic Coast this past week.

The week was drier than normal, meanwhile, across the rest of the contiguous United States, according to today’s Drought Monitor report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The continued lack of precipitation further dried soils, lowered stream levels, and stressed crops and other vegetation, while the excessively warm temperatures increased evapotranspiration and added to the stress.

Drought and abnormal dryness expanded, especially in the Southwest, southern to central Plains, Southeast, and parts of the Northeast.