Drought Monitor

The U.S. Drought Monitor, established in 1999, is a weekly map of drought conditions that is produced jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The U.S. Drought Monitor website is hosted and maintained by the NDMC.

U.S. Drought Monitor maps are released every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. eastern time, and are based on data recorded up to 7 a.m. the preceding Tuesday. The weekly map is based on measurements of climatic, hydrologic and soil conditions, as well as reported impacts and observations from more than 350 contributors around the country. Eleven climatologists from the partner organizations take turns serving as the lead author producing the map each week. The authors examine all the data and use their best judgment to reconcile any variances in what different sources report. The U.S. Drought Monitor is a composite index that includes many indicators.

For more data and information, visit the U.S. Drought Monitor website.