Five Facts About the United States Drought Monitor
1. Numerous agencies use the U.S. Drought Monitor.
2. The USDM is made with more than precipitation data.
3. A real person, using real data, updates the map.
4. The USDM provides a current snapshot, not a forecast.
5. Your input can be part of the drought-monitoring process.
All true.
#USDroughtMonitor #USDM #drought
https://www.farmers.gov/blog/five-facts-about-united-states-drought-monitor
Drought expanded and intensified again this week, with degradation in the Southeast and in parts of the High Plains and West. It eased in parts of the South, Midwest, and Northeast. Drought covers 62.78% of the contiguous US, a jump of 1.75 points.
Worst spring drought on record grips US, fueling wildfires and water worries
Varying levels of drought covered 62.78% of the country as April 21, with the worst of it centered on much of the South, West and Plains. Put another way, dryness in the Lower 48 states has never been this expansive in spring in the history of the US Drought Monitor, which has data back to 2000.
#drought #USDroughtMonitor #USDM
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/23/weather/us-drought-worst-in-decades-wildfires-climate
Some U.S. Drought Monitor stats.
Abnormal dryness and drought (D0-D4) cover 77.57% of the continental U.S. on the U.S. Drought Monitor this week, for the 27th largest affected area since the USDM began in 2000.
Drought (D1-D4) covers 61.03% of the continental U.S. for the 25th most.
March was a dry month, leading to widespread drought expansion across the US with some small areas of improvement in the Midwest and Northeast. Drought covers 59.91% of the continental US, a jump of 3.7 points from last week. Drought has intensified significantly in parts of the Great Plains and West in recent weeks.
Drought expanded and intensified across most of the country with a few spots of improvement in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and Northeast. Drought (D1-D4) covers 56.21% of the US, up 1.4 points from last week.
The last time there was this much drought in the US was the week of Nov. 29, 2022, when 57.51% of the contiguous US was affected.
#drought #DroughtMonitor #USDM
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?conus
NASA scientists join U.S. Drought Monitor team
Ben Cook, with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University, and Jonathan Case, with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama-Huntsville are the newest USDM team members.
#drought #DroughtMonitor #USDM #NASA #RocketScience
https://ianrnews.unl.edu/article/nasa-scientists-join-us-drought-monitor-team
Two NASA scientists have joined the authoring team of the U.S. Drought Monitor, marking the first time the agency has contributed authors to the weekly maps. The partnership formalizes NASA’s long-standing role in providing Earth science data and strengthens the collaborative effort behind the nation’s drought assessments.
The US Drought Monitor shows some drought improvement in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, areas that were affected by last weekend's massive winter storm. More improvement may occur further north and east as snow melts and increases soil moisture.
Drought worsened in parts of the West, the Plains and Florida. Drought covers 43.04% of the contiguous US, a drop of 0.97 points from last week.
#drought #DroughtMonitor #USDM
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?conus
Denise Gutzmer
OmegaDelta64
江頭3G83
