Drought coverage in the United States dropped to a five-and-a-half-year low on March 15, when only 12.4 percent of the contiguous 48 states was affected. The figure climbed to 16.7 percent, an increase of 4.3 points, in the following three weeks, says USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. “Most of the increase has been driven by the development of short-term drought across the central and southern Plains and the Southwest, while further erosion of drought has occurred in northern California and the Northwest.”
At the end of the first week of April, 20 percent of winter wheat territory was affected by drought, compared to 3 percent on March 8, at the end of winter. In Colorado, 15 percent of winter wheat was listed in poor or very poor condition; in Texas, the figure was 11 percent. Due to dryness in the Southwest and the southern Plains, 17 percent of U.S. cattle were in a drought area.