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U.S. Department of Commerce logo and link to site Climate of 2003 - February
U.S. National Drought Overview

National Climatic Data Center, 14 March 2003

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Global Analysis / Global Hazards / United States / U.S. Drought / Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.

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On the national scale,
  • about 34 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of February;
  • severe to extreme drought affected about 18 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of February 2003, a decrease of about 7 percent compared to last month owing to above-normal precipitation falling across many of last month's drought areas;
  • the coverage of the current (November 1999-present) national-scale drought first peaked in August 2000 at about 36% of the contiguous U.S. (in the severe to extreme categories), 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 had a general increasing trend for much of the period since then, reaching in July 2002 the peak it had first reached in August 2000; there has been a generally decreasing trend in drought area since July 2002 (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 40 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, dropping to about 3 percent by the end of February 2003 (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).
U.S. Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1996-present
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U.S. Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1900-present
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Although some areas of the country were dry this month, much of the U.S. was wet. Integrated across the nation, February 2003 precipitation averaged well above normal, ranking as the 21st driest February in the 1895-2003 record. But the near-record dry January pulls the January - February 2003 rank down to 18th driest. Fourteen of the last 42 months have averaged well below the normal, while only six averaged well above normal (see graph top right). National 2002-2003 precipitation ranks:

Precipitation Ranks for the
Contiguous U.S., 2002-2003
Period Rank
Feb 21st wettest
( 87th driest)
Jan-Feb 18th driest
Dec-Feb 51st wettest
( 58th driest)
Nov-Feb 45th driest
Oct-Feb 34th wettest
( 75th driest)
Sep-Feb 32nd wettest
( 77th driest)
Aug-Feb 36th wettest
( 73rd driest)
Jul-Feb 40th wettest
( 69th driest)
Jun-Feb 52nd wettest
( 57th driest)
May-Feb 51st driest
Apr-Feb 41st driest
Mar-Feb 47th driest
 U.S. Precipitation Departure and Normals, January 1998-present
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U.S. Precipitation, January-February, 1895-2003
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For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
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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