DOI: 10.3886/e233222v1
title: Climate.gov Data Snapshots: Drought - Monthly Outlook

description: <b>Q: How are conditions related to drought likely to change?
</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Colors
 on each map show experts' estimates of how conditions related to 
drought are likely to change by the end of the next month. Areas where 
experts expect below-average precipitation or above-average temperatures
 (which increase evaporation) may see drought develop, persist, or 
worsen. Areas with forecasts for above-average precipitation may see 
drought conditions improve or end.

 
 <br><b>Q: What information do experts use to produce drought outlooks?
</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Starting
 with knowledge of current drought status, experts examine weather 
forecasts and climate outlooks to check the chances for below-, near-, 
or above-average precipitation and temperature during the next month. 
The experts also consider seasonal patterns of precipitation (for 
example, if a region usually has a wet summer), if an El Niño or La Niña
 event is occurring, and if an active tropical storm season is expected.
 They compare this range of factors with forecasts to determine if 
conditions are likely to become drier or wetter. Based on this input, 
experts make their best estimates of how conditions will change, and 
assign regions into outlook categories on the map.

 
 <br><b>Q: What do the colors mean?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Colors
 show experts' assessments of where and how conditions related to 
drought are likely to change by the end of next month. Gold areas are 
not currently experiencing drought, but they are likely to become drier 
through the next month. Dark brown areas show where drought conditions 
currently exist and are likely to persist or worsen. Tan areas are 
currently experiencing drought; they are likely to see improvement, but 
not an end, to drought conditions. Green shows where drought conditions 
are likely to end.

 
 <br><b>Q: Why do these data matter?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Drought
 outlooks can help decision makers plan ahead. For instance, if drought 
is likely to develop in a region, farmers and ranchers may decide to 
delay planting, plant a drought-resistant crop, or stockpile food and 
water for livestock. Forestry officials may choose to hire additional 
firefighters and secure equipment to be ready to fight wildfires. Water 
managers may consider instituting water restrictions. If drought is 
likely to improve or end, ranchers may choose to begin using stockpiled 
resources, and farmers may choose crops that require adequate moisture.

 
 <br><b>Q: How did you produce these snapshots?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Data
 Snapshots are derivatives of existing data products: to meet the needs 
of a broad audience, we present the source data in a simplified visual 
style. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) produces the source images
 for the Monthly Drought Outlook. To produce our images, we run a set of
 scripts that access map layers from CPC, and re-project them into 
desired projections at various sizes.

 
 <br><b>Q: Data Format Description</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A: </b>The
 CPC Drought Outlook zip files contain shapefiles for use in GIS 
software, as well as KML files appropriate for software like Google 
Earth. The original Drought Outlook data files used to make this Data 
Snapshot can be found at this data directory, as well as this web page. 

 
 
 <br><b>References</b>
 
 Expert Assessment - Monthly Drought Outlook Summary Expert Assessments - Monthly Drought Outlook Discussion NWS Drought Fact Sheet
 <br>Source: https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/data-snapshots/data-source/drought-monthly-outlook<br>
 <br>




This upload includes two additional files:<br>* Drought - Monthly Outlook _NOAA Climate.gov.pdf is a screenshot of the main Climate.gov site for these snapshots.<br>* Cimate_gov_ Data Snapshots.pdf is a screenshot of the data download page for the full-resolution files.<br><br>
description: Data is divided in to folders by image resolution -- full size (zip), small (png) and large (png). Occasionally there may be one image missing in a particular size but available in another size.<br><br>Data downloaded from climate.gov 6/17/2025.