Hazards
Drought
NOAA’s monthly Palmer Drought Severity Index for every county in the lower 48 since 1895: where drought has struck hardest, and when.
- 52%of counties in severe drought in July 1934, the worst month
- 32%in September 2026, the latest month
- 96months in a row, the longest, in Nuckolls County, NE
- 131years of record, 1895 to 2025
Map: each county coloured by its lowest Palmer reading since 1895 (paler is drier), lit in the year it came.
Drought · 1931 to 1940
The worst decade
Every county’s Palmer reading, month by month, through the ten years with the most counties in severe drought.
Year by year
The share of lower-48 counties in severe drought or worse (a Palmer index of −3 or lower), averaged over each year’s twelve months.
The last ten years
Month by month, January 2017 to September 2026. In September 2026, 1,000 of 3,107 counties were in severe drought.
The worst drought years
| 1954 | 38% | September 1954 | 51% |
| 1934 | 37% | July 1934 | 52% |
| 1931 | 33% | February 1931 | 42% |
| 1956 | 28% | January 1956 | 32% |
| 2012 | 26% | July 2012 | 38% |
| 1955 | 24% | January 1955 | 42% |
| 1964 | 21% | January 1964 | 33% |
| 2000 | 21% | August 2000 | 28% |
| 1936 | 20% | August 1936 | 45% |
| 1988 | 20% | August 1988 | 36% |
| 1925 | 19% | August 1925 | 35% |
| 1911 | 19% | June 1911 | 31% |
| 1940 | 19% | January 1940 | 38% |
| 1953 | 18% | November 1953 | 38% |
| 2002 | 18% | August 2002 | 26% |
The longest county droughts
The longest unbroken runs of months in severe drought or worse, one per county.
| Nuckolls County NE | 96 | June 1933 | May 1941 |
| Webster County NE | 89 | June 1933 | October 1940 |
| Jefferson County MT | 84 | May 1931 | April 1938 |
| Carbon County MT | 72 | November 1999 | October 2005 |
| Perkins County SD | 71 | April 1934 | February 1940 |
| Buffalo County NE | 69 | June 1936 | February 1942 |
| Irion County TX | 69 | May 1951 | January 1957 |
| Schleicher County TX | 69 | May 1951 | January 1957 |
| Sutton County TX | 69 | May 1951 | January 1957 |
| Kimble County TX | 69 | June 1951 | February 1957 |
| Reagan County TX | 67 | September 1951 | March 1957 |
| Adams County NE | 63 | March 1936 | May 1941 |
| Clay County NE | 63 | March 1936 | May 1941 |
| Hall County NE | 63 | June 1936 | August 1941 |
| Merrick County NE | 63 | June 1936 | August 1941 |
| Cass County NE | 62 | July 1936 | August 1941 |
| Otoe County NE | 62 | July 1936 | August 1941 |
| Kearney County NE | 61 | March 1936 | March 1941 |
| Phelps County NE | 61 | March 1936 | March 1941 |
| Custer County NE | 60 | July 1936 | June 1941 |
| Dawson County NE | 60 | July 1936 | June 1941 |
| Sheridan County WY | 60 | August 2000 | July 2005 |
| Silver Bow County MT | 59 | June 1933 | April 1938 |
| Ector County TX | 59 | November 2021 | September 2026, ongoing |
| Gosper County NE | 58 | June 1936 | March 1941 |
Where drought strikes
States by the share of all county-months in severe drought since 1895, and the county rankings.
- The Palmer index is computed by NOAA each month from a county’s temperature and precipitation, relative to its own climate. Zero is normal, −3 severe drought and −4 extreme drought. It measures the long-run balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses, and it is not the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor.
- NOAA publishes no county Palmer index for Alaska or Hawaii. The last column is each state’s worst year.
NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026.