National Climatic Data Center, 14 August 2003

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale, severe to extreme drought affected about 20 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of July 2003
  • moderate to extreme drought affected about 31 percent of the contiguous U.S.
• Short-term conditions were dry across much of the West and central and southern Great Plains, as well as a few locations along the east coast
• Above-normal precipitation in July improved the moisture conditions in some dry areas of the Great Lakes
• Long-term moisture deficits persisted across parts of the Great Lakes to central Plains, northern Maine, and much of the West

Contents Of This Report:

• National Overview
• Regional Drought Watch
• Palmer Drought Indices*
• Standardized Precipitation Index*
• Regional Precipitation Ranks*
• Statewide Precipitation Ranks*
• Weekly Drought Monitoring Tools*
• State/Regional Moisture Status*

  * From these pages, click on the
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