More than six of every 10 acres in the continental United States is in drought, with arid conditions stretching from the Appalachians to the Pacific Coast, said the weekly Drought Monitor on Thursday. Conditions worsened in the Ohio Valley, as warm weather combined with below-normal precipitation to dry the Midwest.
“The extent of dry conditions is on par with 2012, as drought expanded this week across more than half of the U.S. states, particularly in the Midwest and Southeast,” said the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska on social media. The Drought Center produces the Drought Monitor in partnership with the USDA and NOAA.
In total, 62.95% of the contiguous states were affected by drought ranging from moderate to exceptional, an increase of 20 percentage points since Labor Day, said the Drought Monitor. Drought crossed the Missouri and moved through the Midwest during a dry September and October.
At this point in October 2012, drought covered 61.8% of the country, down slightly from 63.55% at the start of the month, said a Drought Monitor database.
“Given that much of the [Midwest] region experienced above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation again this week, it warranted another round of 1-category degradations, particularly across the Ohio Valley,” said the weekly report.
Drought also deepened in the central Plains. “Stock ponds for cattle remain low to nonexistent, and pastures are providing marginal feed, with supplemental feed required for many.”
The growing season is over for most field crops, but drought affects pasture conditions for livestock as well as the winter wheat crop, which accounts for the lion’s share of U.S. wheat production. A dry winter would leave 2023 crops short of moisture as the new season begins.
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