NCDC: U.S. National Drought Overview

NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2004 / Feb / U.S. Drought / Natl.Over. / Search / Help

Climate of 2004 - February
U.S. National Drought Overview

National Climatic Data Center, 12 March 2004

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

National Overview

On the national scale,

severe to extreme drought affected about 10 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of February 2004, a decrease of about 9 percent compared to last month
about 24 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of February
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 5 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories at the end of February
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).

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Precipitation Ranks for the
National (Contiguous U.S.) , 2003-2004
Period Rank

Feb 22^nd wettest
( 89^th driest)

Jan-Feb 43^rd wettest
( 67^th driest)

Dec-Feb 48^th wettest
( 62^nd driest)

Nov-Feb 35^th wettest
( 75^th driest)

Oct-Feb 53^rd wettest
( 57^th driest)

Sep-Feb 42^nd wettest
( 68^th driest)

Aug-Feb 42^nd wettest
( 68^th driest)

Jul-Feb 48^th wettest
( 62^nd driest)

Jun-Feb 30^th wettest
( 80^th driest)

May-Feb 26^th wettest
( 83^rd driest)

Apr-Feb 23^rd wettest
( 86^th driest)

Mar-Feb 29^th wettest
( 81^st driest)

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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

NCDC / Climate Mon. / Climate-2004 / Feb / U.S. Drought / Natl.Over. / Search / Help

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2004/feb/drought-national-overview.html
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Last Updated Wednesday, 20-Aug-2008 12:22:42 EDT by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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