Drought Conditions Improve, Still Long Way to Go
Map by National Drought Mitigation Center
The U.S. drought monitor for December 15, 2011
The latest drought data from the National Drought Mitigation Center was released today. The numbers haven’t moved much since last week, and while they give cause for some hope, they also show just how far we have left to go:
- 41 percent of the state is in the “exceptional” stage of drought, the highest level. The good news is that those levels are down from nearly 88 percent just three months ago.
- 76 percent of Texas remains at the second highest level of drought, “extreme.” Those numbers have also improved somewhat, down from almost 97 percent three months ago.
- The entire state — 100 percent of it — is still in a drought, 90 percent of it at a “severe” level or worse.
- Look backwards and you can see just how intense this drought has been. A year ago today, none of the state was at the “exceptional” level and 85 percent of Texas was at the lowest level, “abnormally dry.”
