National Climatic Data Center, 15 April 2004

• severe to extreme drought affected about 19 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of March 2004, an increase of about 8 percent compared to last month
• about 27 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of March
• 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)
• about 3 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories at the end of March
• 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).