drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

developed in the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, and

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

in the summer of 2020. Similar conditions started in other states in August 2020, including

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and certain parts of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. At the same time, more than 90% of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

were in some level of drought. Also in drought conditions were

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Over the course of 2021, conditions improved in the Northeast but worsened in the Western United States. As of June 2021, "nearly the entire region (97 percent) asfacing abnormally dry conditions." Drought also affected a wide area of Mexico in 2021, as well as the

prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

of Canada. The drought conditions of 2020 were associated with a moderate

La Niña LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

episode that had developed in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

United States

West

By autumn 2020, the drought in the Western States was the worst since similar drought conditions seven years earlier. The 2020–2021 drought was described by some as possibly the worst drought in modern history for the Western U.S. By late spring 2021, dry conditions had expanded to almost the entire state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and to neighboring

. In July 2021, after two more extremely dry winters,

Lake Powell Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds of water when full, second in the United States to only the ...

dropped to its lowest level since 1969 when the reservoir was first filling.

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

fell to a level expected to trigger federally mandated cuts to Arizona and Nevada's water supplies for the first time in history. The first quarter of 2022 was the driest on record in California and Nevada. Despite June having slightly above average precipitation in California, the state still had its driest first half. This persisted even during the extreme monsoon season, but eased a bit. Since July 28, 2022, Lake Mead rose 1%. Despite the monsoon,

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

was put in a drought emergency in December 2022, allowing for water restrictions to be put in place.

2022–2023 California floods

The flooding in late December 2022 and early January 2023 alleviated some of the drought conditions by January 3. By March 16, all exceptional and extreme drought was washed out of California. In mid-April, the Governor announced the state would meet 100% of requested water allocations for the first time since 2006. It is estimated that there was more water in the California snowpack in April of 2023 than the total capacity of Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir.

Midwest

In 2020 Iowa received widespread rain in September which improved the dry conditions for the eastern region of the state. but the western half of the state dealt with severe-to-extreme drought problems which extended past 2020 and into 2021. By late April and early May 2021, though, northern, central and northeastern Iowa had fallen back into dry conditions. By mid-August 2021, drought problems in Iowa had worsened; certain areas across the state were affected with extreme drought conditions by August 13. The northwest and east-central regions of Iowa were especially adversely affected with extreme dry conditions by mid-August. The 2020–2022 droughts were also affecting

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, southern

, most of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

and northwestern

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. In northeastern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

near the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

, May 2021 was the driest since 2012. As of June 1, 2021, Chicago had only received barely half of one inch of rainfall due to drought in the area. April 2021 was one of the city's driest Aprils on record; only fell in Chicago in April 2021. By August 12, 2021, Minnesota was having the worst drought spells since the major drought in the final two years of the late 1980s. Just over seven percent of the state, in particular, nine counties in the northwestern part of Minnesota were having exceptional drought. That was the first time since 1988 the state had been under exceptional dry conditions. The drought conditions in Minnesota during 2021 caused serious comparisons to extremely similar dry conditions eighty-five years prior. Drought significantly expanded in Minnesota in September 2022, which became the driest on record at the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

Northeast

By late August/early September 2020, the drought conditions in several regions of the United States had worsened. The

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

states were also under severe to extreme drought conditions. 2020 became the driest summer on record in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. The abnormally dry summer across the Northeast led to 99% of Rhode Island being in extreme drought by September. The Northeastern United States were out of drought conditions by the beginning of June 2021. However, throughout July 2022, drought returned and intensified across the Northeast.

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

had their driest July on record in 2022.

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

was hit particularly hard, as by August 16, over 40% of the state was in extreme drought. Almost all of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

was in extreme drought in mid-August, after the 3rd driest July on record. August was the driest in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

since 1994. August became the 6th driest on record at

JFK International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...

, 4th driest on record at

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The population was 339,938 at th ...

and 3rd driest on record in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. By the end of the month, almost all of New York City, as well as all of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, was in severe drought, with severe drought significantly expanding in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

, and extreme drought being introduced in portions of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. However, drought improved in September. By September 27, no part of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

was in severe drought, and most of the state was out of drought. With precipitation increasing in the fall, especially after Hurricane Nicole, less than 10% of the Northeast was in any kind of drought. In May 2023, drought conditions resurged over the Northeast, especially in places near

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, which saw their driest May on record. By August 24, 47 of Pennsylvania’s counties were out of drought, but 20 counties were still under drought watch.

Southeast

By June 2021, moderate drought conditions had developed in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Drought in North Carolina peaked in early December 2021.

Mexico

As of April 2021, Mexico was facing one of the most widespread droughts in its history, with 85% of the country experiencing drought conditions. As of April 2022, 30% of Mexico, especially the northern region, still has serious, critical and major drought problems. File:Grassland Fire NL.jpg, A grass fire being controlled by firefighters in Nuevo León, México, during the drought File:Grassland Fire - 2021 Mexico Forest Fire Season.jpg, A grassfire in Nuevo León, México, also during the drought

Canada

As of spring 2021, extreme drought threatened the southern corners of Manitoba and Saskatchewan after an abnormally dry fall and winter. In June of 2023, some parts of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

saw a drought that according to the Canadian Drought Monitor was a one in fifty year occurrence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:North American drought, 2020-22 Droughts in the United States 2020 natural disasters in the United States 2021 natural disasters in the United States 2022 natural disasters in the United States 2023 natural disasters in the United States 2020 droughts 2021 droughts Droughts in Canada 2022 droughts 2023 droughts