Extreme Drought Rising as Dry Spells Cover Over a Third of the US

Over one-third of the U.S.'s total land area is under some kind of drought condition, with regions under the most severe droughts expanding.

As of November 19, data from the U.S. Drought Monitor reveals that 38 percent of the U.S.—including Puerto Rico—is under moderate to exceptional drought conditions.

While this is a drop from 41.7 percent the week prior, the area affected by the most serious "extreme drought" and "exceptional drought" conditions has increased slightly, from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent.

U.S. Drought Monitor map of drought conditions across the U.S. as of November 19, 2024. Gray areas have no drought conditions, yellow is "abnormally dry," pale orange is "moderate drought," bright orange is "severe drought,"... National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln / United States Department of Agriculture / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

This week, 35.01 percent of the U.S. and Puerto Rico were completely drought-free, with 26.96 percent under "abnormally dry" conditions, 23.44 percent affected by "moderate drought", 10.38 percent under "severe drought," 3.68 percent under "extreme drought" and 0.54 percent under "exceptional drought."

The week before, 3.55 percent was under "extreme drought" and 0.56 under "exceptional drought."

The drought map reveals that the worst-hit areas include Western Texas, the Great Plains, and the Northeast.

"Drought and abnormal dryness contracted or reduced in intensity in the Pacific Northwest, southern Great Plains to Upper Mississippi Valley, Lower Mississippi Valley to Ohio Valley, and central Appalachians to parts of the mid-Atlantic Coast. Drought or abnormal dryness expanded or increased in intensity in some of the dry areas, including parts of Montana, Deep South Texas, the Southeast, and more of the Northeast," NOAA explained in a weekly drought report.

Three months ago, on August 20, 52.79 percent of the country was totally drought-free, with 27.11 percent under "abnormally dry" conditions. The remaining 20.1 percent of the country was under some form of drought, with 13.99 percent under "moderate drought," 4.63 percent under "severe drought," 1.31 percent under "extreme drought," and 0.17 percent under "exceptional drought".

According to NOAA, some 73.3 percent of the U.S. population—roughly 228 million people—live in areas currently affected by abnormal dryness or drought.

Surprisingly, California and the rest of the Southwestern states only seem to be somewhat affected by the drought, with the exception of southwestern Arizona. This comes after the region has experienced severe and prolonged drought conditions in recent years, as a result of a "megadrought" considered to be one of the worst in over 1,200 years. This megadrought has lasted for over two decades—since the early 2000s—exacerbated by rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation.

"A megadrought is a drought that last two or more decades. The current SW megadrought started in 1999 and has become the longest drought in US history, and also the most severe in at least 1200 years. Whereas previous droughts have been caused mostly by a reduction in precipitation, the ongoing SW megadrought is as much a product of warming temperatures as decreases in rain and snow," Jonathan Overpeck, dean of environmental studies at the University of Michigan, told Newsweek.

As a result, major reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which provide water to millions of people across the Southwest, have reached historic lows in recent months, leading to states in the Colorado River Basin having had to negotiate cuts to water allocations to manage the shrinking water supply.

The Southwest's drought is expected to continue or worsen with ongoing climate change. Scientists predict more frequent and intense droughts, higher temperatures, and increasing competition for dwindling water resources.

"We know that climate change as a result of human activity is already making droughts worse. This is because of shifting weather patterns, influenced by the changes in temperatures in oceans and the atmosphere, in part because warmer air holds more moisture. This is one of the reasons why extreme weather is getting more extreme—heavy rainfall can be even heavier, and droughts can last longer," Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the University of Reading in the U.K., previously told Newsweek.

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