National Climatic Data Center, 15 January 2002

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale, severe drought affected about 15 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of December 2001
• Beneficial rain and snow fell over parts of the western U.S. during the last three months, but much of the region continued to suffer from long-term moisture deficits and hydrological impacts of drought
• Drought continued across much of the eastern seaboard and parts of the southern Plains

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*

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