Drought Report for Central and Southeast Illinois

Last Updated:  11/1/2012
Next Scheduled Update:  11/15/2012

By:  Chris Geelhart, Meteorologist

Synopsis:
The lingering drought conditions are now mainly across the northwest third of the state, as well as in far southern Illinois.  In central Illinois, the October 30 issuance of the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated that moderate drought conditions were still being observed from about Henry to Lincoln westward.  Much of the remainder of central and southeast Illinois was classified as “abnormally dry” due to the long term precipitation departures from normal, although east central Illinois was dropped from any classification in this recent issuance.

 

Latest Drought Monitor Graphics:
U.S. Drought Monitor   U.S. Drought Monitor, Illinois sector

Specific categories are as follows:

D4 (Exceptional Drought) — No counties are considered to be in exceptional drought.

D3 (Extreme Drought) — No counties are considered to be in extreme drought.

D2 (Severe Drought) — No counties are considered to be in severe drought.

D1 (Moderate Drought) — Fulton, Knox, Logan, Marshall, Mason, Peoria, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford.

D0 (Abnormally Dry) — Cass, Christian, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, De Witt, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, McLean, Macon, Menard, Morgan, Moultrie, Piatt, Richland, Sangamon, Scott, and Shelby.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a weekly collaborative effort between a number of agencies including NOAA/NWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, state climatologists, and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Details and explanations of the Drought Monitor can found at the web site:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Note: Drought categories are based onbroad-scale indicators over “climate districts” (the gray division lines on the U.S. map above). The Illinois map attempts to delineate the drought categories on a more regionalized map. Small-scale factors, such as localized heavy rain from thunderstorms, may affect the drought level over a small area, which may not necessarily be reflected in the maps above.

The categories of drought are defined as follows:

Abnormally Dry (D0) – Going into drought: short-term dryness slowing planting, growth of crops or pastures. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; pastures or crops not fully recovered.Moderate Drought (D1) – Some damage to crops, pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells low, some water shortages developing or imminent, voluntary water use restrictions requested.

Severe Drought (D2) – Crop or pasture losses likely; water shortages common; water restrictions imposed.

Extreme Drought (D3) – Major crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or restrictions.

Exceptional Drought (D4) – Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells, creating water emergencies.

The latest seasonal drought outlook from the Climate Prediction Center is available at the following web site:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
expert_assessment/
seasonal_drought.html

Specific impacts from the drought are available on the Drought Impact Reporter at:

http://droughtreporter.unl.edu

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