Graphic showing NOAA logo NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2003 / Nov / U.S. Drought / Natl.Over. / Search / Help

U.S. Department of Commerce logo and link to site Climate of 2003 - November
U.S. National Drought Overview

National Climatic Data Center, 12 December 2003

 NOAA logo and link to site
Global Analysis / Global Hazards / United States / U.S. Drought / Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.

Top of Page National Overview

On the national scale,
  • severe to extreme drought affected about 19 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of November 2003, a decrease of about 9 percent compared to last month
  • about 37 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of November
  • on a broad scale, the last two decades were characterized by unusual wetness with short periods of extensive droughts, whereas the 1930s and 1950s were characterized by prolonged periods of extensive droughts with little wetness (see graph below right)
  • about 14 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories at the end of November
  • a file containing the national monthly percent area severely dry and wet from 1900 to present is available
  • historical temperature, precipitation, and Palmer drought data from 1895 to present for climate divisions, states, and regions in the contiguous U.S. are available at the Climate Division: Temperature-Precipitation-Drought Data page in files having names that start with "drd964x" and ending with "txt" (without the quotes).
Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1996-present
larger image
 U.S. Drought and Wet Spell Percent Area, 1900-present
larger image

Precipitation Ranks for the
National (Contiguous U.S.) , 2002-2003
Period Rank
Nov 33rd wettest
( 77th driest)
Oct-Nov 50th driest
Sep-Nov 50th wettest
( 60th driest)
Aug-Nov 53rd wettest
( 57th driest)
Jul-Nov 54th driest
Jun-Nov 42nd wettest
( 68th driest)
May-Nov 33rd wettest
( 77th driest)
Apr-Nov 34th wettest
( 76th driest)
Mar-Nov 36th wettest
( 74th driest)
Feb-Nov 27th wettest
( 83rd driest)
Jan-Nov 45th wettest
( 65th driest)
Dec-Nov 29th wettest
( 80th driest)
 precipitation departure and normal, January 1998 - present
larger image

Precipitation, 1895-2003
larger image

Top of Page For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

Richard Heim
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
-or-
Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
Top of Page
Graphic showing NOAA logo NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2003 / Nov / U.S. Drought / Natl.Over. / Search / Help

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/nov/drought-national-overview.html
Downloaded Tuesday, 24-Nov-2009 10:49:24 EST
Last Updated Wednesday, 20-Aug-2008 12:22:38 EDT by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
Please see the NCDC Contact Page if you have questions or comments.