US drought footprint continues to shrink

by Brad Rippey, USDA Meteorologist During the 4-week period ending on March 1, 2016, contiguous U.S. drought coverage fell to 14.30 percent—a decrease of 1.18 percentage points.  This also represents the smallest areal coverage of U.S. drought in nearly 5½ years, since October 12, 2010.  The U.S. drought minimum of 2010—7.74 percent coverage on July 6—occurred in the wake of the most recently completed El Niño, which lasted from the summer of 2009 to the spring of 2010. Since mid-October 2015, stormy weather in many parts of the country—in part driven by a strong El Niño—has significantly reduced the U.S. …

Read more