According to the October 10, 2023 According to the October 10, 2023 U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to exceptional drought covers 33.6% of the United States including Puerto Rico, about the same as last week’s 33.6%. The worst drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) decreased from 8.4% last week to 7.5%.
The atmospheric circulation over the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) during this U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) week (October 4-10) consisted of an upper-level trough of low pressure over the eastern half of the country and a ridge of high pressure over the West. Cold fronts associated with the trough brought cooler-than-normal air that spread from the central and northern Plains to the Southeast. The fronts and their surface low pressure systems generated above-normal precipitation across parts of the Plains, Great Lakes, and Northeast. The ridge kept the western U.S. warmer than normal for the week and also inhibited precipitation from the West Coast to the Rockies and western portions of the Plains. The circulation pattern brought dry air into the Southeast, so much of the area from the central Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic Coast was drier than normal.
The western Great Lakes also missed out on the precipitation. Subtropical high pressure kept Hawaii dry this week, while the U.S. Virgin Islands and eastern parts of Puerto Rico were brushed by rains associated with Tropical Storm Philippe. Above-normal precipitation contracted drought or reduced its intensity in the southern Plains, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a few parts of the Midwest. But continued dry conditions expanded or intensified abnormal dryness and drought in parts of Hawaii and the Four Corners states and across much of the Southeast from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the central Appalachians.
Nationally, contraction slightly exceeded expansion for the contiguous U.S., so the nationwide moderate to exceptional drought area decreased slightly this week; but for the 50 states and Puerto Rico, expansion equaled contraction, so the nationwide drought area stayed the same by this measure.
Abnormal dryness and drought are currently affecting over 155 million people across the United States including Puerto Rico—about 49.8% 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 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 Twitter.
