NCDC: U.S. Regional Drought Watch

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Climate of 2004 - June
U.S. Regional Drought Watch

National Climatic Data Center, 15 July 2004

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

Regional Drought Overview / Additional Contacts / Questions

Regional Overview

June was dry across much of the West and Northeast, parts of the northern Plains and Midwest, and southern Florida. Heavy rains that fell across the southern Plains into the Southeast brought relief from drought in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas (PHDI for June vs. May). The interior and southeast stations in Alaska were drier than normal, but wetter than normal conditions prevailed at the primary stations along the western and northern coastal bands. The rainfall pattern in Hawaii was mixed, with most of the primary stations drier than normal. The pattern was also mixed at the primary stations in Puerto Rico, but most of the coastal Cooperative stations were drier than normal for the 4 weeks ending on June 25 and the stations on the western end of the island were drier than normal for the last 8 weeks.

Click here for map showing Palmer Z Index

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This month's short-term dryness compounded the long-term moisture deficits (last 9 to 24 to 36 to 60 months) in many areas. Dry conditions have persisted for much of the last 12 months across most of the West North Central region, giving the region the eighth driest July-June in the 110-year record. The 12th wettest June in the 110-year record brought relief from drought to the Southeast region. But severe dryness during the preceding three months still resulted in the 23rd driest March-June, in spite of the recent wet conditions.

Near-normal rainfall during June combined with a very dry May to give the Southwest region the 41st wettest June but 16th driest May-June in the 110-year record. Below normal rainfall for much of the last 12 months gave the region the 26th driest July-June. Drier than normal conditions in June for the Northwest and West regions, combined with below-normal precipitation in other recent months, resulted in the 21st driest February-June in the 110-year record for the Northwest and the third driest March-June for the West.

Click here for map showing Current Month Palmer Hydrological Drought Index

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Some regional highlights:

Several states had the tenth driest, or drier, month or season for:
- May-June (Arizona-6th)
- March-June (California-3rd, Wyoming-7th, Montana-11th)
- February-June (Maine-9th)
- January-June (Maine-4th, Wyoming-9th)
- December-June (Wyoming-10th)
- October-June (Wyoming-10th)
- August-June (Montana-10th)
- July-June (Montana-5th, Wyoming-7th)
Soil moisture conditions:
- End-of-month soil moisture conditions were much drier than normal in parts of Maine, the Southeast, and Great Plains, and drier than normal across much of the West, based on model computations.
- early July USDA topsoil moisture observations were dry to very dry (also compared to 5-year and 10-year climatologies) in states in the coastal mid-Atlantic to Northeast, Midwest to Great Plains, and West.
According to beginning-of-July USDA reports, more than 30 percent of the pasture and range land was in poor or very poor condition (higher than seasonal norms) in several western and Great Plains states.
Much of the western U.S. has experienced dry conditions for the last five to six years. Continued dryness this month has exacerbated drought conditions across parts of the West.
- High elevation SNOTEL station reports indicate that the mountain snowpack has essentially melted out.
- Reservoirs in the western states were still low or depleted.
- Streamflow levels were below seasonal norms, especially in the northern Rockies, both as computed by models and based on USGS observations.
- The percent area of the western U.S. (Rockies westward) experiencing moderate to extreme drought (as defined by the Palmer Drought Index) increased during June to about 74%. While this is not near record historical levels, it is still comparable to the major droughts of the 20th Century.
The below-normal precipitation in Alaska was accompanied by much warmer than normal temperatures, giving the state a record warm June. Drying soils, increasing vegetative stress (June 27 to July 4), and several wildfires resulted.

These overall conditions are evident in the following indicators:

Palmer Drought Indices,
Standardized Precipitation Index,
airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
statewide precipitation rank maps,
Cooperative station percent of normal precipitation maps,
satellite-based observations of vegetative health,
satellite-based observations of surface moisture,
National Weather Service model calculations of
Midwest Regional Climate Center model calculations of soil moisture,
percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the Western Regional Climate Center
- hydrologic year precipitation,
- snow water equivalent of snowpack,
streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.

A detailed review of drought conditions is available for the following regions and states:

Click here for map showing the nine U.S. standard regions

Additional Contacts:

Damage due to the drought has been summarized by NOAA and the Office of Global Programs in the Climatological Impacts section of the Climate Information Project. Crop impact information can be found at the USDA NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) and Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin pages. Drought statements by local National Weather Service Offices can be found at the NWS Hydrologic Information Center. Drought threat assessments and other information can be found at NOAA's Drought Information Center. Additional drought information can be found at the National Drought Mitigation Center, the USDA's National Agricultural Library, the interim National Drought Council, and the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program. The following states have set up web pages detailing current drought conditions and/or their plans to handle drought emergencies:

Colorado - Delaware - Delaware River Basin (DE-NJ-NY-PA) - Florida Panhandle - Georgia - Idaho - Kentucky - Maine - Maryland - Missouri-1 - Missouri-2 - Montana - New Jersey-1 - New Jersey-2 - New Jersey-3 - New Mexico - Oklahoma-1 - Oklahoma-2 - Oklahoma-3 - Oregon - Pennsylvania-1 - Pennsylvania-2 - South Carolina - Texas - Vermont - Virginia - Wyoming

For additional information on current and past wildfire seasons please see the National Interagency Fire Center web site or the U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation web site.

NCDC's Drought Recovery Page shows the precipitation required to end or ameliorate droughts and the probability of receiving the required precipitation.

Additional climate monitoring graphics can be found at the Climate Prediction Center's monitoring pages:

Precipitation and modeled soil moisture anomaly maps for the Midwest U.S. can be found at the Midwest Regional Climate Center's monitoring page.

Drought conditions on the Canadian prairies can be found at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Drought Watch page.

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

NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2004 / June / U.S. Drought / Regional / Search / Help

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Last Updated Tuesday, 29-Nov-2005 14:04:56 EST by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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