More than half of U.S. faces worst drought in decades
Key takeaways
- Copy address link to clipboard United States drought map released by U.S.
- According to Ellis, the La Niña condition, or cooling of the western equatorial Pacific Ocean, this past fall and winter brought the dryness across the southern tier of the United States.
- “With La Niña in place, the fall and winter season storm track typically moves farther north along the U.S.-Canadian border, leaving the southern U.S. without the storm dynamics that generate precipitation,” Ellis said.
Copy address link to clipboard United States drought map released by U.S. Drought Monitor on May 7, 2026. The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions. Local conditions may vary. For more information on the Drought Monitor, go to https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/About.aspx. Image courtesy National Drought Mitigation Center. More than 60 percent of the United States is experiencing drought conditions, with more than 20 percent in an extreme drought. Andrew Ellis, a climatologist at Virginia Tech said the current conditions are among the worst in decades because the combination of intensity and aerial coverage is rare. He explained why, who is most impacted, and when we can expect relief.
According to Ellis, the La Niña condition, or cooling of the western equatorial Pacific Ocean, this past fall and winter brought the dryness across the southern tier of the United States. While dryness from the West through the southern Great Plains and into the Southeast La Niña years, Ellis noted this specific event was atypical because the Pacific Northwest remained so dry.
“With La Niña in place, the fall and winter season storm track typically moves farther north along the U.S.-Canadian border, leaving the southern U.S. without the storm dynamics that generate precipitation,” Ellis said. “Pacific storm systems are less frequent in the Southwest, and the flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the eastern U.S. is less frequent.”