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 |
|---|
| D0 | Soil moisture is low |
| Fire danger increases |
| D1 | Livestock need supplemental feed and water |
| Burn bans and firework restrictions begin |
| D2 | Pasture yield is limited; producers sell livestock |
| Irrigated crops are stunted; dryland crops are brown |
| Dust storms occur |
| Abundance and magnitude of wildfires may increase; fuel mitigation practices are in effect |
| Wildlife feeding patterns change |
| Well water decreases |
| D3 | Livestock are suffering; producers are selling herds; feed costs are high; emergency CRP grazing is authorized; crop yields are low |
| Fire danger is extreme |
| Irrigation allotments decrease |
| Vegetation and native trees are dying |
| D4 | Federal lands begin to close for fire precautions; burn bans increase |
| Bears encroach on developed areas; migratory birds change patterns |
| No surface water is left for agriculture, farmers use private wells |
| Rio Grande and other large rivers are dry |
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.