Climate of 2006 - March
U.S. Drought

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale:
  • Severe to extreme drought affected about 13 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of March 2006.
  • Moderate to extreme drought affected about 26 percent of the contiguous U.S.
• Dryness affected many of the same areas this month that have experienced dry conditions during the last several months (February, January, December, November). March was much drier than normal along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. About 14 percent of the contiguous U.S. was very dry (i.e., precipitation in the bottom 10th percentile of the historical record).
• Above-normal precipitation continued to bring improvement to parts of the Rockies and central and southern Plains. During the month, beneficial rains brought relief to the drought area in northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and rain and snow brought relief to Nebraska and eastern Wyoming, but it was not enough to compensate for the significant deficits of the last 12 months.
• Dryness intensified and spread along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. For the last three months drought had been concentrated in the middle Atlantic states and in southern Louisiana, but the areas of dryness were spreading. Long-term moisture deficits persisted across most of the Mississippi Valley, central and eastern Texas, and the Southwest. Another area of long-term deficits was in the central Appalachians.

Contents Of This Report:

• National Overview
• Regional Drought Watch
• Drought Indicators
• Palmer Drought Indices*
• Standardized Precipitation Index*
• Regional Precipitation Ranks*
• Weekly Drought Monitoring Tools*
• State/Regional Moisture Status*
  * From these pages, click on the
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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