USA Drought Intensity - Current Conditions

Drought occurs when a region has an imbalance between water supply and water demand over an extended period of time. Droughts can have significant environmental, economic, and social consequences. Between 1980 and the present time, the cost of drought exceeded 100 billion dollars, making drought monitoring a key factor in planning, preparedness, and mitigation efforts at all levels of government. Data Source: [U.S. Drought Monitor], National Drought Mitigation Center, [GISData Download] Update Frequency: Weekly, typically on Friday around 10:00AM [UTC]. Using the [Aggregated Live Feed Methodology] For Full Historical data: See [USA Drought Intensity 2000 - Present] Online Item! For USDM Symbology Style: See [USA Drought Intensity - Current Conditions - USDM Color Scheme] Online Item! Dataset Summary: This feature service provides access to current drought intensity categories for the entire USA. These data have been produced weekly since January 4, 2000 by the U.S. Drought Monitor, see the [Full Historical data] for the full time series. Drought intensity is classified according to the deviation of precipitation, stream flow, and soil moisture content from historically established norms, in addition to subjective observations and reported impacts from more than 350 partners across the country. New map data is released every Thursday to reflect the conditions of the previous week. Layer Summary: * 'US_Drought_Current': Polygon areas for most recent week This Layer contains a series of drought classification summaries that fall into two groups: Categorical Percent Area and Cumulative Percent Area. Categorical Percent Area statistic is the percent of the area in a certain drought category and excludes areas that are better or worse. For example, the D0 category is labeled as such and only shows the percent of the area experiencing abnormally dry conditions. Cumulative Percent Area statistics combine drought categories for a comprehensive percent of area in drought. For example, the D0-D4 category shows the percent of the area that is classified as D0 or worse. Drought Classification Categories are as follows: ─────┬───────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Class│Description │Possible Impacts ─────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D0 │Abnormally Dry │Going into drought: short-term dryness slows growth of crops/pastures. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; drops/pastures not fully recovered. ─────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D1 │Moderate Drought │Some damage to crops/pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells are low with some water shortages developing or imminent; voluntary water-use restrictions requested. ─────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D2 │Severe Drought │Crop/pasture losses are likely; water shortages are common and water retrictions are imposed. ─────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D3 │Extreme Drought │Major crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or restrictions. ─────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── D4 │Exceptional Drought│Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies. ─────┴───────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced in partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is the drought map that the USDA and IRS use to define which farms have been affected by drought conditions, defining who is eligible for federal relief funds.