National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Drought Center helps people, organizations and institutions build resilience to drought through monitoring and planning, and we are the academic partner and web host of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Our capabilities include climatology, social science and public engagement, and we work at all scales, from individual ranches to local, state and tribal government, and countries around the world.
Drought expands in Midwest and South following hottest summer on record
In September, drought and abnormal dryness increased across every drought category in the U.S. and Puerto Rico after the hottest summer on record globally, according to the World Meteorological Organization .

Abnormal dryness (D0) or worse conditions increased from 43.4 to 47.5%.
Moderate drought (D1) or worse conditions increased from 28.8 to 32.1%.
Severe drought (D2) or worse conditions increased from 15.9 to 18.8%.
Extreme drought (D3) or worse conditions increased from 6.2 to 8.5%.
Exceptional drought (D4) increased from 1.3 to 2.4%.
Much of the degradations were from the central Ohio River Valley into the central and southern Mississippi River Valley, with nearly all of Indiana and Mississippi seeing degradations of two to three categories.

The Southwest and South generally experienced degradations, although areas in western Arizona and central Texas improved. The Southeast saw overall improvements along the Atlantic coast, with degradations in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Conditions in Arizona and New Mexico continued to degrade, particularly in the southern part of the two states.

In the Midwest, D0 and D1 expanded across Indiana, central Kentucky and Ohio. A mixture of improvements and degradations occurred across the western part of the Midwest. One-category improvements occurred in central Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern North Dakota, Montana, central Idaho and central Utah. The Pacific coast of Oregon and Washington continues to see little relief as conditions degrade.


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