Climate of 2006 - May
U.S. Drought

U.S. Drought Highlights:

• On the national scale:
  • Severe to extreme drought affected about 20 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of May 2006.
  • Moderate to extreme drought affected about 39 percent of the contiguous U.S.
• Dryness was observed in May over much of the country. The Southwest, western Texas, western High Plains and the south Atlantic states have experienced very dry conditions for the last several months. The most severe conditions in May were in the Desert Southwest to the northern Plains, and the Big Bend region of Texas. About 11 percent of the contiguous U.S. was very dry (i.e., precipitation in the bottom 10th percentile of the historical record).
• Coupled with the very dry conditions were high temperatures in the Southwest and Plains. The combination of high temperatures and very little precipitation led to extreme drought as defined by the Palmer Z Index.
• Dryness persisted in the mid-Atlantic States and southern Appalachians, central Florida and along the Louisiana coast. Evaporation in these areas was high, and streamflow was low.
• The wheat harvest in Oklahoma is expected to be the worst in 50 years due to drought, wildfires, high winds, hail storms, insects and frost damage (AP, 5/22). On May 9, the USDA authorized a federal drought disaster declaration in all but one of the counties in Arizona.

Contents Of This Report:

• National Overview
• Regional Drought Watch
• Drought Indicators
• Palmer Drought Indices*
• Standardized Precipitation Index*
• Regional Precipitation Ranks*
• Weekly Drought Monitoring Tools*
• State/Regional Moisture Status*
  * From these pages, click on the
  Back button to return to this 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
  
  
  -or-
  
  
  Ned Guttman
  NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
  151 Patton Avenue
  Asheville, NC 28801-5001
  fax: 828-271-4328
  email: Ned.Guttman@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