NCDC: U.S. National Drought Overview

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Climate of 2003 - October
U.S. National Drought Overview

National Climatic Data Center, 14 November 2003

Global Analysis / Global Hazards / United States / U.S. Drought / Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.

National Overview

On the national scale,

severe to extreme drought affected about 27 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of October 2003, an increase of about 1 percent compared to last month
about 42 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of October
on a broad scale, the last two decades were characterized by unusual wetness with short periods of extensive droughts, whereas the 1930s and 1950s were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (see graph below right)
about 16 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories at the end of October
a file containing the national monthly percent area severely dry and wet from 1900 to present is available
historical temperature, precipitation, and Palmer drought data from 1895 to present for climate divisions, states, and regions in the contiguous U.S. are available at the Climate Division: Temperature-Precipitation-Drought Data page in files having names that start with "drd964x" and ending with "txt" (without the quotes).

U.S. Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1996-present

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U.S. Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1900-present

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Precipitation Ranks for the
National (Contiguous U.S.) , 2002-2003
Period	Rank
Oct	30^th driest
Sep-Oct	42^nd driest
Aug-Oct	51^st driest
Jul-Oct	47^th driest
Jun-Oct	45^th wettest ( 65^th driest)
May-Oct	32^nd wettest ( 77^th driest)
Apr-Oct	30^th wettest ( 80^th driest)
Mar-Oct	35^th wettest ( 75^th driest)
Feb-Oct	30^th wettest ( 80^th driest)
Jan-Oct	48^th wettest ( 62^nd driest)
Dec-Oct	38^th wettest ( 71^st driest)
Nov-Oct	40^th wettest ( 69^th driest)

precipitation departure and normal, January 1998 - present

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For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov

For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

Richard Heim
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Richard.Heim@noaa.gov

-or-

Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov

NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2003 / Oct / U.S. Drought / Natl.Over. / Search / Help

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Last Updated Friday, 18-Nov-2005 14:12:17 EST by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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