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Across much of the drought area, the October dryness was a continuation of dry conditions from the summer and early fall (September, August, and July). Even longer-term moisture deficits (last 12 to 24 months) persisted across parts of the Great Lakes to central and northern Plains and most of the West.

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Some regional highlights:

• Colorado had its sixth driest and California its seventh driest October, and Iowa its third driest, Minnesota its sixth driest, and Wisconsin its seventh driest August-October, in 2003, based on statewide records going back to 1895
• according to November 2 reports from the USDA,
  • 50% or more of the topsoils were classified in "poor" or "very poor" ("short" or "very short") condition for all of the reporting states across the main drought areas
  • 80% or more of the topsoils were classified in "poor" or "very poor" ("short" or "very short") condition for New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon
• according to November 3 reports from the USDA,
  • 50% or more of the pasture and range land was classified in "poor" or "very poor" condition for the central and northern Plains states from Colorado to Wisconsin
  • about 40% or more of the pasture and range land was classified in "poor" or "very poor" condition for all of the states from the Rocky Mountains westward
  • the percentages were 95% for California, 83% for New Mexico, and 78% for Montana
• end-of-October reservoir storage for all of the reporting western states averaged below the long-term mean percent of capacity for this time of year
• the percent area of the western U.S. (Rockies westward) experiencing moderate to extreme drought (as defined by the Palmer Drought Index) increased during October to about 80%, which is near record historical levels
• over a dozen large wildland fires were burning at the end of October, mainly in California but also in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma

• Palmer Drought Indices,
• Standardized Precipitation Index,
• airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
• statewide precipitation rank maps,
• Cooperative station percent of normal precipitation maps,
• satellite-based observations of vegetative health,
• satellite-based observations of surface moisture,
• National Weather Service model calculations of
  • soil moisture,
  • runoff,
  • evaporation,
• Midwest Regional Climate Center model calculations of soil moisture,
• percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the Western Regional Climate Center
  • hydrologic year precipitation,
• streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.

A detailed review of drought conditions is available for the following regions and states:

• Northwest region
• Southwest region
• West region
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Idaho
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Oregon
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming
• West North Central region
• East North Central region
• Central region
• Arkansas
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Wisconsin
• Alabama
• Florida

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For additional information on current and past wildfire seasons please see the National Interagency Fire Center web site or the U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation web site.

NCDC's Drought Recovery Page shows the precipitation required to end or ameliorate droughts and the probability of receiving the required precipitation.

Additional climate monitoring graphics can be found at the Climate Prediction Center's monitoring pages:

• Weekly, Monthly, 3-Month, 12-Month Monitoring
• El Nino, Drought, Snow Cover, and Degree Day Monitoring
• Weekly Drought Monitoring
• Soil Moisture Monitoring

Precipitation and modeled soil moisture anomaly maps for the Midwest U.S. can be found at the Midwest Regional Climate Center's monitoring page.

Drought conditions on the Canadian prairies can be found at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Drought Watch page.