National Climatic Data Center, 17 October 2001

• severe drought affected just under 20 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of September 2001;
• the coverage of the current drought peaked in August 2000 at about 36% of the contiguous U.S., which was as extensive as the major droughts of the last 40 years, but not as large as the "dust bowl" droughts of the 1930's and 1950's;
• the total drought area decreased to about 10 percent by November 2000, but has shown a steady increasing trend since then (see graph below left);
• on a broad scale, the last two decades were characterized by unusual wetness with short periods of extensive droughts, whereas the 1930's and 1950's were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (see graph below right);
• although different parts of the U.S. have experienced unusually wet conditions during the last 24 months, there continues to be little change in the overall national wetness picture;
• the percentage of the nation severely wet has held steady at about three to eleven percent during this period (see graph below left);
• 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.

• 46th driest for September 2001,
• 42nd driest for July-September 2001,
• 35th driest for January-September 2001,
• 39th driest for October 2000-September 2001.