 National Overview
On the national scale,- about 36 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of November;
- severe to extreme drought affected about 26 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of November 2002;
- this is the fourth consecutive month of decreasing areal coverage of drought
- the coverage of the current (November 1999-present) national-scale drought first 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 1930s and 1950s;
- the total drought area decreased to about 10 percent by November 2000, but has shown a general increasing trend for much of the period since then, reaching in July 2002 the peak it had first reached in August 2000 (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 1930s and 1950s were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (see graph below right);
- although various parts of the U.S. have experienced unusually wet conditions during the last 37 months, little change occurred in the aggregate national wetness picture during much of this period;
- the percentage of the nation severely wet has remained below about eleven percent during this period, reaching about 5 percent by the end of November 2002 (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 in files having names that start with "drd964x" and ending with "txt" (without the quotes).
| | Although some areas of the central U.S. were very dry this month, much of the eastern U.S. was wet. Integrated across the nation, however, November 2002 precipitation averaged well below normal. Thirteen of the last 39 months have averaged well below the normal, while only four averaged well above normal (see graph top right). National 2001-2002 precipitation ranks: | 
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larger image |  For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:Climate Services Division
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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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