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Drought conditions (USDM)

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map, expressed as the share of area in each drought class and as the Drought Severity and Coverage Index (DSCI), a single-number rollup of the same classes.

Figures

Drought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026Drought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026. Idaho: 0 on January 4, 2000, 245 on October 6, 2026.0100200300400200020102020IdahoIndexDrought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026Drought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026. Idaho: 0 on January 4, 2000, 245 on October 6, 2026.0100200300400200020102020IdahoIndexDrought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026Drought Severity and Coverage Index, January 4, 2000 to October 6, 2026. Idaho: 0 on January 4, 2000, 245 on October 6, 2026.0100200300400200020052010201520202025IdahoIndex

Source: National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.S. Drought Monitor. Data period October 6, 2026. Published .

MeasureValuePeriod
Drought Severity and Coverage IndexOctober 6, 2026245October 6, 2026

Pages built on this dataset

Publisher

Organization
National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Publisher’s dataset
U.S. Drought Monitor
File or API used
https://usdmdataservices.unl.edu/api/StateStatistics/GetDroughtSeverityStatisticsByAreaPercent
Methodology
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/About/AbouttheData/DSCI.aspx

Coverage

Geography
Nation, states, the District of Columbia, and Idaho counties
Time coverage
2000-2026
Update frequency
Weekly
Published
October 6, 2026
Retrieved
October 12, 2026
License of the records
Public domain. U.S. federal government work, produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center with USDA and NOAA.
Rows
142,494 observations, 2000-2026

Measures

MeasureWhat it measuresUnit
Drought Severity Statistics by Area PercentCumulative share of Idaho's area in each U.S. Drought Monitor class or worse, as published weekly: the D2 figure includes D2, D3 and D4.percent
Drought Severity and Coverage IndexThe U.S. Drought Monitor's single-number weekly drought index, from 0 (no abnormal dryness or drought) to 500 (entirely in D4, Exceptional Drought): the sum of the D0-D4 cumulative area percentages.index

Caveats

  • The D0-D4 area-percent figures are cumulative: the D2 figure is the share of area in D2 or worse (D2, D3 or D4), not D2 alone, as the U.S. Drought Monitor's own data service documents. The 'None' figure is the remaining share in no drought class at all; None plus D0 always sums to 100 percent.
  • The Drought Severity and Coverage Index (DSCI) is the publisher's own single-number rollup, documented as the sum of the D0-D4 cumulative percentages for a week; it ranges from 0 (no abnormal dryness anywhere) to 500 (the entire area in D4, Exceptional Drought). Understand Idaho requests it directly from the publisher's service rather than computing it.
  • The area-percent figures are pulled for Idaho only. The Drought Severity and Coverage Index is pulled for the nation, every state, the District of Columbia, and every Idaho county; it is not pulled for counties outside Idaho.
  • The map date is the Tuesday each week's conditions are assessed as of; the map itself is released the following Thursday. Weeks are not revised after release.
  • The national Drought Severity and Coverage Index figure is the publisher's own 'Total' row (all 50 states), not its separate row for the 48 contiguous states.

How to cite

Understand Idaho, “U.S. Drought Monitor”, compiled from National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, U.S. Drought Monitor. Retrieved October 12, 2026. https://understandidaho.com/data/usdm-drought/.

Cite National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln directly for the figures themselves.

This page was last updated .