National Climatic Data Center, 14 March 2002

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale, severe drought affected about 21 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of February 2002
• Much of the western U.S. continued to suffer from long-term moisture deficits and hydrological impacts of drought, with the moisture deficits most pronounced in the northern Rockies and the Southwest
• The eastern seaboard continued to suffer from drought which has reached record proportions in some areas
• Long-term drought continued in parts of the southern Plains while short-term dryness persisted over parts of the North Central states

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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