National Drought Mitigation Center

Strong temperature gradients across the nation this week, along with Gulf moisture moving northward, resulted in widespread heavy and persistent precipitation.

The Drought Download video series uses maps, climate indicators and graphics to visualize the U.S. Drought Monitor.

U.S. Drought Monitor May 28, 2026 Strong temperature gradients across the nation this week, along with Gulf moisture moving northward, resulted in widespread heavy and persistent precipitatio...

Heavy rainfall of 2 to 6 inches fell across parts of the Ohio Valley this week. The precipitation brought widespread drought improvement and localized flooding to Kentucky. Two-category improvement occurred in the northern part of Kentucky and adjacent areas of southern Ohio.

Are you seeing any drought impacts in your area? Share reports to CMOR: https://go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

Many areas of the Southeast and South saw improvement this week, with some degradation in the Texas Panhandle. Parts of the Midwest saw degradation, with some improvement in Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri. The rest of the Lower 48 saw a mix of improvement and degradation to conditions. Alaska saw some improvement.

U.S. Drought Monitor May 28, 2026

For the 50 states and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 50.77% in moderate drought or worse, compared to 52.15% last week.

In the May 2026 edition of Dry Horizons:

• Research shows path to water availability in rapidly-growing cities
• Wildfire Resilience Index supports resilience efforts in Western U.S.
• New USGS resource helps assess water availability in the Lower 48

Dry Horizons is a monthly roundup of drought research and news. Read more: https://mailchi.mp/unl.edu/dry-horizons-may-2026

This week’s CMOR photo is from Sheridan County, Nebraska.

“Following several precipitation events last week, this location received over 0.50 inches of moisture (locally up to ~0.77 inches) between Friday and Monday. Despite the rainfall, pasture conditions remain poor.”

Submit your photos: go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

ICYMI: Share photos of your Memorial Day weekend views to the Visual Drought Atlas!

Your contributions provide a record of local conditions across the country. go.unl.edu/visualdroughtatlas

Happy Memorial Day weekend! It’s that time of year where we encourage photo submissions to the Visual Drought Atlas.

It’s a collection of images showing dry, wet and normal conditions across the U.S., and it’s all possible thanks to your contributions.

📸 Share your photos: go.unl.edu/visualdroughtatlas

CoCoRaHS Headquarters

This week saw severe thunderstorm outbreaks, large moisture disparities and regional temperature anomalies.

The Drought Download video series uses maps, climate indicators and graphics to visualize the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Learn more: https://youtu.be/XCJ-FTOyyq4

U.S. Drought Monitor May 21, 2026 This week saw severe thunderstorm outbreaks, large moisture disparities and regional temperature anomalies. The Drought Download video series uses maps, clim...

Drought worsened in Arizona this week, and the northeast corner of the state saw small areas of extreme drought emerge. On May 14, Arizona’s drought advisory group recommended the renewal of a state drought declaration that has been in effect since 1999.