According to the November 5, 2024 U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), moderate to exceptional drought covers 43.4% of the United States including Puerto Rico, a decrease from last week’s 45.3%. The worst drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) decreased from 5.5% last week to 4.0%.
A shift in the upper-level circulation pattern over the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) occurred during this U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) week (October 30–November 5). The ridge of high pressure, which had been responsible for drier- and warmer-than-normal weather across much of the CONUS, shifted to the East Coast, while a powerful trough of low pressure intensified over the West. A southerly flow between the two spread Gulf-of-Mexico moisture across the Plains and Midwest. Two potent surface low-pressure systems and their associated cold fronts moved through the trough and bumped up against the east coast ridge, which slowed their eastward progress. The fronts and surface lows generated widespread heavy rain across the southern Plains to the western Great Lakes, and the slow movement of the fronts resulted in repeated inundations for local areas. The week ended up with above-normal precipitation across much of the Great Plains, Mississippi Valley, western Great Lakes, and central to southern Rockies, as well as parts of the Pacific Northwest. The trough brought cooler-than-normal temperatures to the West, while the ridge and a southerly flow kept temperatures warmer than normal across the CONUS east of the Rockies. The ridge also inhibited precipitation east of the Mississippi Valley, resulting in a drier-than-normal week here. Parts of the northern Rockies and Montana, as well as southern California to the Great Basin, were also drier than normal for the week. Alaska and Hawaii were warmer than normal with a mixed precipitation anomaly pattern. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had a mixed temperature anomaly pattern, with below-normal precipitation in the west and above-normal precipitation in eastern areas.
Drought and abnormal dryness expanded or increased in intensity across much of the Northeast and parts of the Midwest, Southeast, and Montana, with contraction occurring in Hawaii, across much of the southern Plains to the western Great Lakes, and parts of the Northwest. Nationally, contraction was more than expansion, so the nationwide moderate to exceptional drought area percentage decreased this week, although the area experiencing abnormal dryness and drought increased.
Abnormal dryness and drought are currently affecting over 247 million people across the United States including Puerto Rico—about 79.4% of the population. This is the highest percentage in the entire 25-year USDM record, up by about 1.6% since last week’s report.
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 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. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s World Agriculture Outlook Board also provides information about the drought’s influence on crops and livestock.
For additional drought information, follow #DroughtMonitor on Facebook and X.
