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Where is drought this week?

U.S. Drought Monitor

Sample of U.S. Drought Monitor

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Sample of U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Drought Impacts Report

Sample of Drought Impacts Report

Wildfire Risks

Sample of Wildfire Risks

NIDIS in Your Region

Map of DEWS regions

As of February 1-7, 2017, drought (D1-D4) is impacting:

11.9%

of the US and 14.3% of the lower 48 states.

88.8 million

people in the U.S. and 88.8 in the lower 48 states.


During this U.S. Drought Monitor week, a series of Pacific storms brought significant rain to coastal areas of central and northern California, Oregon, and Washington while heavy snows blanketed higher elevations of the Sierra, Cascades, and northern Rockies.  Continued snowfall this week across the Sierra is making a positive impact on the overall drought situation, where the snowpack statewide is 176% of normal according to the California Cooperative Snow Surveys.  Most of the major reservoirs in California are currently above historical averages.  Some lingering hydrologic impacts (low reservoir levels and below-normal groundwater levels) are still present in portions of the state despite abundant precipitation during the past several months.  Elsewhere in the West, mountain snowpack levels are normal to above normal across the Great Basin, southern Cascades, Wasatch, as well as central and southern Rockies.  In the southern Plains and portions of the South, overall dry conditions have persisted, especially across Arkansas and Oklahoma.