The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report issued Thursday morning indicates a lack of substantial rain over the past seven days in most of Kentucky means drought conditions continue.
A swath of south and southwest Grayson County is in the “Extreme Drought” category, along with large areas of southwestern Kentucky, including all of Butler County and a large portion of Ohio County.
- In Kentucky, the “Extreme Drought” area increased from 16.8 percent to 20.9 percent of the state over the last seven days.
- Areas designated as “Severe Drought” also saw a slight decrease, from 37 percent last week to 36 percent in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report.
- The part of the state experiencing “Moderate Drought” dropped over the past week, falling from 35.5 percent to 31.5 percent.
- “Abnormally Dry” conditions now make up eight percent of Kentucky’s land area, up from seven percent last week.
- The “No Drought” area of the commonwealth decreased from three percent last week to roughly two percent in the latest report and is restricted to the counties along the Ohio River in northern Kentucky.
No part of the state is in the “Exceptional Drought” category.
The extended outlook from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center calls for temperatures to return to above normal through May 27, with precipitation forecast to be slightly above normal during that time.
Drought observations are taken every Tuesday, with the results released two days later.
Map color designations
White: No Drought
Yellow: Abnormally Dry
Tan: Moderate Drought
Brown: Severe Drought
Red: Extreme Drought
(Photo of drought conditions in Kentucky courtesy of U.S. Drought Monitor)
By Ken Howlett, News Director and Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
