Where is the drought? Will it change? What are its impacts?
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Reports from media, observers and other sources on drought impacts by state and county, by category, and by time period. >> Launch Site
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Wildfire Risks
Wildfire risk is mostly normal for the continental U.S. However, long term drought coupled with increasing potential for offshore winds will keep potential elevated in California through October. >>Click for more information on US Wildfire
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Summary of Drought This Week
As of August 18, 2015, drought (D1-D4) is impacting:
- 27.8% of the area of U.S. and 29.3% of the lower 48 states.
- 95.1 million people in the U.S. and 91.4 million people in the lower 48 states.
Short term dryness has caused expansion of drought across much of Texas and eastern Oklahoma. Conditions also deteriorated in Washington, North Carolina, and along the coastline of Lake Superior. Drought eased in Nebraska and South Dakota, southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. Little or no change in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Northeast.
For more information, see the narratives for the:
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NIDIS in Your Region
Click for more information on NIDIS Regional activities
| Southeast | California |
| Northwest | 4-Corners |
| Upper Colorado | Missouri River |
| Southern Plains | Carolina Coast |
Drought in your backyard
How is drought affecting you? Enter your zip code for current conditions:
Western states drought coodinators, emergency managers confer in Seattle
More than 60 drought coordinators, emergency managers, climatologists, water managers and others met July 21-22 in Seattle to address drought-related issues throughout the West. Representing from states from Texas to Alaska, the group explored the array of ways they each monitor, respond to and plan for drought.
What does El Niño mean, really?
Simply put, El Niño is a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. And it has potential implications for weather in the Western Hemisphere. What does that mean for you? NOAA's Climate.gov hosts a blog exploring the phenomenon.
USDA Federal Drought Assistance