The U.S. Drought Monitor is an interagency drought monitoring tool that is issued weekly.
U.S. Drought Monitor Animation: 6-week or 12-week.
This page has been created to help in the preparation of the U.S. Drought Monitor. (The graphics linked to from this page are operational products produced by several different organizations and agencies. The quality control applied to these graphics varies from graphic to graphic and some of the graphics are experimental.) Some of the indicators that are examined to produce the U.S. Drought Monitor include the following:
Indicators Analyzed to Prepare the U.S. Drought Monitor Product
| Source |
Daily/Weekly Maps |

USGS
|
Daily Streamflow for Current Month
7-Day Average Streamflow
|

NWS RFC National Precipitation Verification Unit
|
6-hr and 24-hr Quantitative Precipitation Estimates - maps
|
 \
NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services
|
NWS-AHPS National Precipitation Analysis
|

National Weather Service
|
NWS Precipitation Analysis
|

NWS NCEP Hydrometeorological Prediction Center
|
Daily Weather Maps (fronts, temperature, precipitation and 500-mb heights)
|

USDA (CPC)
USDA (NDMC)
|
USDA Topsoil - Very Short
|

NESDIS - VHI Main
|
Satellite Vegetation Health Index
NESDIS - VHI N. America
|

NDMC/USGS
|
Vegetation Drought Response Index
|

Forest Service
|
Fire Danger
Keetch-Byram Drought Index
Satellite Vegetation Greenness Index
|

National Interagency Fire Center
|
NIFC Fire Incidents Map
|

National Climatic Data Center
|
Weekly PDSI,CMI, Percent of Normal Precipitation and Temperature Departure from Normal
|

USGS
|
USGS Water Monitor (Streamflow, Reservoirs, Groundwater, Snow)
|

Climate Prediction Center
|
Experimental Objective Blends of Drought Indicators
|

Climate Prediction Center
|
National
Soil Moisture Anomaly
Soil Moisture Percentiles
Evaporation Percentiles
Averaged Runoff Anomaly
|

Midwest Regional Climate Center
|
Midwest Climate Watch
|

Western Regional Climate Center
|
WRCC Drought Monitoring
|

Oklahoma Mesonet
|
Oklahoma Mesonet Drought Monitoring
|

NASA
|
LDAS National Soil Moisture Percentiles (NASA)
LDAS National Soil Moisture Percentiles (EMC)
NLDAS National Runoff Percentiles (EMC)
NLDAS National Streamflow Percentiles (EMC)
|

University of Washington
|
Experimental Surface Water Monitor (soil moisture, SWE, total moisture storage, runoff)
Ensemble Forecast Analyses (soil moisture, SWE, runoff)
|

Natonal Weather Service
|
NWS Leaky Bucket soil moisture, precipitation and temperature (historical)
NWS Leaky Bucket soil moisture, precipitation and temperature (current)
|

USDA
|
USDA Pasture and Rangeland maps
|

USDA
|
USDA Crop Reporting Statistics by State
|

High Plains Regional Climate Center
|
COOP station based maps of Temperature and Precipitation at several time frames, from weekly to multi-year
|

USGS
|
Rain Days & Model Output
|

Climate Prediction Center
|
Average Temperature Anomaly
Accumulated Precipitation Anomaly
|

Rutgers Snow Lab
|
Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Maps
|

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
|
Western U.S. Snowpack
(available January-May)
|

NOAA GLERL
|
Great Lakes water levels
Data Download Portal (lake levels and ice)
|

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
|
Western U.S. Reservoir Storage
(available January-May)
* USDA NRCS current graphic *
(available year-round)
|

NRCS
|
Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI)
|

USDA/NRCS
|
Western U.S. SNOTEL Snow Percentile Maps
(station plots)
|

USDA/NRCS
|
Western U.S. SNOTEL Precipitation Percentile Maps
(station plots)
|

Western Regional Climate Center
|
Western U.S. SNOTEL Precipitation Anomaly
(basin maps)
|

Western Regional Climate Center
|
Western U.S. SNOTEL Snow Water Equivalent Anomaly
(basin maps)
|
Monthly Maps