Regional Overview
Most of the drought areas were dry during October, resulting in intensifying drought conditions across much of the West to the western Great Lakes. Heavy rains ended drought over parts of Washington state, but the month was dry across much of the West, Great Plains, and Upper Midwest to Great Lakes, and parts of the Southeast. Unusually warm temperatures accompanied the dryness across much of the West and into the Great Plains.
The primary stations in Hawaii and in southeastern and east central Alaska were drier than normal during October. The precipitation pattern for the stations in Puerto Rico for the last 4 weeks to 8 weeks was generally mixed with drier than normal stations located mostly in the northeast.
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.
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
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These overall conditions are evident in the following indicators:
A detailed review of drought conditions is available for the following regions and states:
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Additional Contacts:
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
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