DROUGHT

Drought in United States

Latest update
Map: Drought in United States

GDACS has tracked this drought in United States since February 21, 2026, 241 days as of its latest update on October 20. It carries a GREEN alert: limited humanitarian impact expected.

TypeDrought
GDACS alertGreen
CountryUnited States
SinceFeb 21, 2026
Tracked for241 days
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Detected by GDO.

What makes a drought

A drought is a long stretch of below-normal rain that leaves soils, rivers and reservoirs short of water. Unlike most disasters it creeps in over months, and its toll on crops, livestock and drinking water grows the longer it lasts.

Seen from space

Satellite picture, Satellite view · October 20, 2026
Satellite view · October 20, 2026

True color from the VIIRS instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite. The ring marks where the event was reported. Pictures: NASA Worldview (GIBS) from the daily satellite passes; clouds can hide the ground on some days.

GDACS report. Source: GDACS, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System of the United Nations and the European Commission (CC BY 4.0).

Did you know?

The Dust Bowl. In the 1930s, severe drought and poor farming turned the US Great Plains into the Dust Bowl, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

More: floods and droughts · all events

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