According to the March 8, 2022, U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to exceptional drought covers 51.2% of the United States including Puerto Rico, an increase from last week’s 49.6%. The worst drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) increased from 11.1% last week to 12.5%.
This USDM week (March 2-8) began with an upper-level ridge over the western contiguous United States (CONUS) that migrated eastward as the week progressed. Much warmer-than-normal temperatures accompanied this ridge, especially in the Great Plains then further east as the week wore on. Several Pacific weather systems followed the migrating ridge. The weather systems brought precipitation to coastal Washington and Oregon, and snow to parts of the Rockies, but most of the West still had a drier-than-normal week. They also brought cooler-than-normal temperatures to parts of the West.
Surface low pressure systems and fronts, that were associated with these weather systems, tapped Gulf of Mexico moisture as they moved east of the Rockies. They generated above-normal precipitation across the Ohio Valley and Upper Midwest as they tracked northeastward. But much of the Great Plains, Southeast, and Atlantic Coast missed out on the precipitation, instead experiencing a drier-than-normal week. As the week ended, frigid Canadian air was poised to move behind cold fronts into the northern Great Plains and beyond.
Drought or abnormal dryness contracted in northern parts of the Pacific Northwest and in the Upper Midwest where precipitation was above normal. But with drier-than-normal weather dominating this week, drought or abnormal dryness expanded or intensified across other parts of the West and large sections of the southern Plains, Gulf Coast, and Atlantic Coast. Expansion exceeded contraction, with the nationwide moderate to exceptional drought area increasing this week.
Abnormal dryness and drought are currently affecting over 175 million people across the United States including Puerto Rico—about 56.2% of the population
The full U.S. Drought Monitor weekly update is available from Drought.gov.
In addition to Drought.gov, you can find further information on the current drought as well as on this week’s Drought Monitor update at the National Drought Mitigation Center.
The most recent U.S. Drought Outlook is available from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides information about the drought’s influence on crops and livestock.
For additional drought information, follow #DroughtMonitor on Facebook and Twitter.
