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 | Pasture and row crops are stressed |
| Burn bans are implemented |
| Lawns are brown; landscape and gardens require more frequent watering |
| Lakes and rivers are lower than normal |
| D1 | Hay prices are high; people are selling horses |
| D2 | Crop yields are down; pasture growth is sparse; livestock are removed from grazing |
| Water use is high; groundwater pumping increases |
| D3 | Producers feed cattle supplemental hay |
| Agriculture economic losses are reported statewide |
| Fairs have fewer entries |
| Streamflow is reduced; water temperatures are warm; oxygen content is low; northern pike fish kill is reported |
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.