Data Snapshots: Drought Outlook for September 2014

In brief
Drought in the far West and the southern portion of the Great Plains—regions that are already experiencing extreme and exceptional drought—will likely continue or worsen through September. Drought will also tend to continue in patches of the Southeast and may develop in portions of the Northwest. Across Arizona, western New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, Kansas, and southern Texas, drought conditions are likely to improve or end.

More info
Colors on the map show experts' estimates of how conditions related to drought are likely to change over the next month. To produce these outlooks, drought experts at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center consider current drought status, examine weather forecasts and climate outlooks to estimate if regions will become drier or wetter over the next month, and then outline regions and assign outlook categories.

As of August 26, 2014, almost 34% of the contiguous United States was experiencing some level of drought, including the entire states of California and Nevada. After three “failed” wet seasons over the past three winters, California’s cities and farms are heavily—and, some scientists worry, unsustainably—tapping the state’s groundwater to meet demand.