U.S. Drought Monitor

 (data through 10/16/12)
Data Source(s): U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Drought Mitigation Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Most of the western U.S. is suffering under drought conditions, according to the October 16 update of the U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 3). More than 76 percent of the 11 continental western states are experiencing moderate or more severe drought conditions, almost identical to last month. Parts of Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado continue to endure the most intense drought conditions due to increasing precipitation deficits over the past several months. Very small and isolated improvements have occurred in the last month in southern Nevada where conditions improved from moderate drought to abnormally dry due to above-average precipitation in late September. The Pacific Northwest is the only region generally void of drought conditions, the result of copious precipitation that fell last winter.  However, compared to one year ago, the severity and geographic extent of drought has substantially increased in most of the West. On October 18, 2011, for example, 18 percent of the continental western states was classified as having at least moderate drought and only about 13 percent was pegged with severe or extreme drought; these conditions were almost entirely confined to Arizona and New Mexico. Currently, about 41 percent of the West is covered in severe and extreme conditions. The dry winter and hot summer played a leading role in expanding and intensifying drought across the West.
 

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