National Climatic Data Center, 12 April 2002

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale, severe drought affected about 17 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of March 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 from the northern and central Rockies to the Southwest
• The eastern seaboard and parts of the central and southern Plains continued to suffer from long-term drought

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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