Not-in-Drought Monitor
California No Longer Experiencing Severe Drought
Small-scale improvements were made in parts of southern and central Idaho, Nevada and northwest Utah, where high streamflows and large precipitation amounts from the winter into May led to a reassessment of conditions. Moderate and severe drought increased in coverage in northwest Montana and northwest Washington, where short-term precipitation deficits were occurring amidst low streamflow and decreasing soil moisture.
The majority of California is no longer in drought; areas to the northeast and southeast are still experiencing a lower level of drought, but far less than the extreme drought of a few months ago.
In Oregon, a tight gradient in temperature and precipitation anomalies has been present recently, resulting in worsening conditions in the north and west portions of the state, while conditions have improved in the southeast part of Oregon. In some areas, streamflow and snow cover has quickly decreased as a result of early melt off and recent dry weather. Due to heavy rains associated with a storm system responsible for the heavy rain in the southern Great Plains, some improvements were also made in the plains of east-central New Mexico.
As a comparison, below is the Drought Monitor Map from early December 2022, showing the dramatic reduction in drought throughout California after multiple atmospheric river events.
Updated 6/12/2023