Drought will continue to deepen in the Southeast and Plains through much of the next 7-10 days. There is a pattern shift taking place in the Atlantic that is breaking down the Bermuda High (which has been so dominant for the last 6 weeks). Models continue to suggest better rainfall chances starting about 8-9 days from now across the South into the Southeast (see Matt's video from 4/16/2026). As the Bermuda High repositions, the ECMWF is attempting to create a patchwork of rainfall anomalies that are slowly morphing into something that is more common in May for years with developing El Niños. The developing El Niño will start influencing our pattern very soon and we are already seeing the MJO push consistently into phases 7-8-1. Using a suite of analog years for the rapidly developing El Niño years (2023, 2015, 1997, 1991, 1982, and 1972) I created a composite precipitation anomaly map for May to compare to the latest ECMWF May Forecast.