National Climatic Data Center, 12 December 2003

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale, severe to extreme drought affected about 19 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of November 2003
  • moderate to extreme drought affected about 37 percent of the contiguous U.S.
• Near- to above-normal precipitation fell across parts of the drought areas during November, especially in the West, bringing short-term relief
• November was dry across parts of the Great Plains and Southeast
• Long-term moisture deficits (last 6 to 24 months) persisted across parts of the Great Lakes to central and northern Plains, and most of the West

Contents Of This Report:

• National Overview
• Regional Drought Watch
• Palmer Drought Indices*
• Standardized Precipitation Index*
• Regional Precipitation Ranks*
• Weekly Drought Monitoring Tools*
• State/Regional Moisture Status*

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