• Above-normal precipitation fell across many drought areas during February 2003, but others received below-normal precipitation.
• Much of the Great Lakes to northern Plains region had a fourth consecutive dry month.
• The Pacific Northwest saw a return to drier than normal conditions this month after a two-month wet reprieve.
• The stations in southeastern Alaska were drier than normal this month, but the rest of the stations were generally wet. Unusually warm February temperatures across the state caused more precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow, resulting in a much below-normal snowpack over much of the state. This resulted in Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officials approving a detour because of a lack of snow on the normal route, the first time in the history of the race.
• The precipitation pattern at the primary stations in Hawaii and Puerto Rico was mixed.

• The persistent short-term dryness across the Great Lakes to Great Plains compounded drought conditions in that region, while long-term drought continued across much of the West. Several states had the driest December-February or November-February in the 109-year record this year.
• February saw a return to wet conditions across much of the east coast, with long-term deficits mostly erased. Exceptions include Maine, which has experienced dry conditions on both the short-term and long-term timescales, and the Carolinas and Georgia, where moisture deficits continued at only the 24-month timescale.

The long-term dryness is also evident in the pattern of snowfall anomalies. Season-to-date (July 1, 2002 - February 28, 2003) snowfall has totaled below the long-term average across much of the Far West, Great Plains, Great Lakes, and northern New England regions.

• Palmer Drought Indices,
• Standardized Precipitation Index,
• airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
• statewide precipitation rank maps,
• satellite-based observations of surface moisture,
• National Weather Service model calculations of
  • soil moisture,
  • runoff,
  • evaporation,
• percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the USDA Water and Climate Center
  • hydrologic year precipitation,
  • snow water equivalent of snowpack,
• streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.

A detailed review of drought conditions is available for the following regions and states:

• Northwest region
• West region
• Southwest region
• Colorado
• Idaho
• Nevada
• Oregon
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming

• East North Central region
• West North Central region
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wisconsin

• Maine
• West Virginia

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February precipitation was near-normal when averaged across the West North Central region. However, the last four months gave the region a rank of fifth driest November-February and the long-term deficits rank March-February as the tenth driest such 12-month period.

Media reports (CNN.com) have illustrated the impact of the drought:

• Ranchers from the Dakotas to Kansas are selling their cattle because they cannot feed them. Some grain farmers could do nothing but watch as the drought dried up their crops.
• Nebraska has seen its driest period since the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, and the state's economy lost an estimated $600 million on crops, hay, pastures and ranges last year. Some farmers and ranchers are facing their third or fourth year of drought.

A detailed review of drought conditions is available for several eastern states and regions.

• Colorado - Delaware - Delaware River Basin (DE-NJ-NY-PA) - Florida Panhandle - Georgia - Hawaii - Idaho - Kentucky - Maine - Maryland - Missouri-1 - Missouri-2 - Montana-1 - Montana-2 - Nebraska - New Jersey-1 - New Jersey-2 - New Jersey-3 - New Mexico - North Carolina - Oklahoma-1 - Oklahoma-2 - Oklahoma-3 - Oregon - Pennsylvania-1 - Pennsylvania-2 - Pennsylvania-3 - South Carolina - Texas - Vermont - Virginia - Washington - Wyoming

For additional information on current and past wildfire seasons please see the National Interagency Fire Center web site or the U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation web site.

NCDC's Drought Recovery Page shows the precipitation required to end or ameliorate droughts and the probability of receiving the required precipitation.

Additional climate monitoring graphics can be found at the Climate Prediction Center's monitoring pages:

• Weekly, Monthly, 3-Month, 12-Month Monitoring
• El Nino, Drought, Snow Cover, and Degree Day Monitoring
• Weekly Drought Monitoring
• Soil Moisture Monitoring

Precipitation and modeled soil moisture anomaly maps for the Midwest U.S. can be found at the Midwest Regional Climate Center's monitoring page.

Drought conditions on the Canadian prairies can be found at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Drought Watch page.