The October 14th drought monitor shows 74% of the U.S. is experiencing abnormal dryness or drought, up 1% from the previous week, with 45.6% in D1 level drought or higher, up .6%.
Notable changes from last week include drought relief in the Southwest, where Colorado and Arizona experienced some flash flooding, as well as significant rainfall along the Atlantic coast, stretching from South Carolina up to New Jersey. Areas further inland in the south received variable precipitation, with some areas turning slightly dryer. Rainfall was also spotty across most of the Midwest and Plains, although locally some areas received significant rainfall.
Currently 31% of corn acres are in D1-D4 drought (unchanged from last week), with 39% of soybean acres (unchanged), and 45% of winter wheat acres (unchanged) also impacted. For livestock, 27% of the U.S.cattle herd is in D1-D4 drought conditions (up 2%), with 39% of dairy cattle also in drought (up 1%).
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Drought in Select Row Crop States (%) | ||||||
| State | None | D0-D4 | D1-D4 | D2-D4 | D3-D4 | D4 |
| Arkansas | 16.93 | 83.07 | 45.16 | 14.39 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado | 49.29 | 50.71 | 35.84 | 17.33 | 1.3 | 0 |
| Iowa | 46.81 | 53.19 | 4.72 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 1.63 | 98.37 | 86.09 | 50.66 | 3.46 | 0 |
| Indiana | 21.79 | 78.21 | 42.62 | 15.76 | 3.93 | 0 |
| Kansas | 75.41 | 24.59 | 9.58 | 0.49 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 65.77 | 34.23 | 11.43 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 31.92 | 68.08 | 45.31 | 8.83 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 37.55 | 62.45 | 18.68 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 21.82 | 78.18 | 46.78 | 28.89 | 8.55 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 92.09 | 7.91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 63.38 | 36.62 | 9.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | 19.03 | 80.97 | 36.5 | 20.32 | 10.31 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 68.4 | 31.6 | 5.48 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 49.44 | 50.56 | 33.51 | 1.05 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas | 13.05 | 86.95 | 30.25 | 12.04 | 4.74 | 0.29 |
| Wisconsin | 35.53 | 64.47 | 42.48 | 29.04 | 15.81 | 0 |