Only a quarter of the contiguous United States is in drought after heavy rains soaked many regions, particularly in the southern Great Plains and the Mississippi Delta, says the weekly Drought Monitor, down from 35 percent in mid-October. The worst conditions are west of the Rockies.
Most of California is in extreme or exceptional drought, the two most dire ratings on the five-point scale used by the Drought Monitor. Most of central and western Washington state and Oregon are also in extreme drought. East of the Rockies, the largest and driest area covers almost all of Missouri, western and central Illinois, the eastern half of Nebraska, and northeastern Oklahoma. In mid-October, a large part of Louisiana, eastern Mississippi, southern Arkansas and the eastern half of Texas was under extreme drought.