Map released: Thurs. October 10, 2024
Data valid: October 8, 2024 at 8 a.m. EDT

Intensity

  • None
  • D0 (Abnormally Dry)
  • D1 (Moderate Drought)
  • D2 (Severe Drought)
  • D3 (Extreme Drought)
  • D4 (Exceptional Drought)
  • No Data

Authors

United States and Puerto Rico Author(s):

Pacific Islands and Virgin Islands Author(s):

The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions. Local conditions may vary. See accompanying text summary for forecast statements.

Statistics

Statistics type ?
Week Date None D0-D4 D1-D4 D2-D4 D3-D4 D4 DSCI

Estimated Population in Drought Areas:

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 have the same experience during a drought. Below are examples of some of the impacts experienced in Virginia in the past. The process for developing this example impact table is described in Noel, M., Bathke, D., Fuchs, B., Gutzmer, D., Haigh, T., Hayes, M., Poděbradská, M., Shield, C., Smith, K. and Svoboda, M., 2020. Linking drought impacts to drought severity at the state level. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(8), pp.E1312-E1321. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0067.1. To view a more complete record, and to filter impacts by drought severity, sector and season, check out the interactive State Impacts Tool.

CategoryExamples of historically observed impacts
D1Corn yield is low; soybean, cotton, hay and pastures are stressed
Fire danger increases; burn bans begin
Voluntary water restrictions are requested; river water levels are lower; streams are dry
Wildlife eat crops
D2Fire frequency increases
Hay and pasture supply is low; cattle are weaned early; producers are feeding livestock supplemental hay and baling corn for feed
Mandatory water restrictions are implemented; reservoir levels are low; water table is dropping
D3Cattle are sold; hay is extremely scarce
Lakes are nearly dry

How is drought affecting you?

Use the Condition Monitoring Observer Report (CMOR) system to let us know how dry, wet or normal conditions are affecting you, and see what others are saying.

Submit report