Current Impacts
To see or report current drought impacts, please visit the Drought Impacts Toolkit, where you can find impacts from media in the Drought Impact Reporter, and from citizen scientists and other volunteer observers under Condition Monitoring Observations.
Historic Impacts
No two states experience the same set of impacts during a drought. We developed tables of impacts reported during past droughts in each state for each level of drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor. These state-specific possible impacts complement the general, national possible impacts column of the U.S. Drought Monitor Classification Scheme.
| Category | Historically observed impacts |
|---|
| D1 | Wheat and grasses are drought stressed; hay demand increases |
| Fire danger increases |
| Pond levels are low; habitat is poor in migratory flyways |
| D2 | Wheat, corn, soybean, and hay yields are low; crops are severely damaged |
| Burn bans are implemented; firework sales are banned; more grass fires occur |
| Blue-green algae impacts water supply; ponds and streams are dry |
| D3 | Cattle sales are high; emergency grazing is opened; corn and wheat crops fail; pasture conditions are poor |
| Major infestation of locusts occurs; quail and pheasant populations are reduced; trees are stressed |
| Emergency water supplies are needed; river levels are low; municipal water restrictions are implemented |
| D4 | All crops are severely impacted/not harvested; ground is cracking |
| Wildfires and large dust storms occur |
| All aquatic species and food chains are affected; fish kills occur |
| Negative impact on economy is noted |
| Irrigation is turned off; river has dried up |
How well does this table characterize drought impacts in your state? Think an impact is missing? Please fill out this survey to help improve the table.