To view the latest Oklahoma drought map, CLICK HERE.
According to the latest Oklahoma Drought Monitor report, exceptional drought remains at 0 percent, unchanged from the start of the calendar year.
Moderate to extreme drought conditions in the current period indicate that 98.77% of the state is affected by drought, unchanged from last week.
Extreme Drought conditions have subsided this week, now covering 26.56% of the state, a 8.52% decrease from a week ago, affecting mainly Blaine, Tillman, Pottawatomie, Seminole, McClain, Garvin, Stephens, Kiowa, Washita, Delaware, Ottawa, Mayes, Cherokee, McCurtain, oklahoma candiaian, Kingfisher, and parts of surrounding counties.
According to the 6-to-10-day precipitation outlook map, a large majority of Oklahoma is leaning above a 40-50% chance of precipitation while the panhandle is leaning above a 33-40% chance through April 18th.
This U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) week saw degradations across the areas of the West, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic, while rainfall during the past week led to improvements in drought-affected areas of the South, Plains, and Midwest. In the Midwest, widespread improvements were made after another round of precipitation during the past week leading to removal of areas of drought on the map in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. In these areas, precipitation totals ranged from 2 to 5 inches. Similarly, significant rainfall was observed in portions of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana leading to targeted improvements. Out West, generally dry conditions prevailed across much of the region, although modest precipitation totals were observed in areas of the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Intermountain West, and Southwest with the highest totals logged in California. Despite the much-needed precipitation, conditions deteriorated on the map in Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico. In the Hawaiian Islands, conditions have improved significantly during the past two months due to historic rainfall events observed across the island chain. Elsewhere, dry conditions continued across much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, leading to degradation in conditions from Virginia to Florida. According to the latest U.S. temperature and precipitation analysis by NOAA’s Center for Environmental Information, March 2026 was the warmest March on record for the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) with average temperatures reaching 9.4 °F above the 20th-century average. For the month, 1,432 counties observed their single warmest March day on record (1950-present). Moreover, the April 2025 to March 2026 period was the warmest 12-month span recorded for CONUS since 1895. In terms of precipitation, the January to March period was the driest on record for CONUS, breaking the previous record set in 1910. Coming into April, mountain snowpack conditions remain well below normal despite this week’s precipitation across the higher elevations of the Cascades, Sierra, and Rockies. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SNOw TELemetry (SNOTEL) network (April 7), region-level (2-digit HUC) snow water equivalent (SWE) values (percent of median) are as follows: Pacific Northwest 50%, Missouri 58%, Upper Colorado 26%, Great Basin 18%, Lower Colorado 17%, Rio Grande 13%, and Arkansas-White-Red 10%. In California, statewide snowpack is 16% of normal (April 7), with the Southern Sierra at 27%, Central Sierra at 19%, and Northern Sierra at 5%.
In The South: On this week’s map, improvements were made in drought-affected areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas, while areas of Tennessee saw degradations. In terms of precipitation during the past week, moderate to heavy rainfall accumulations (ranging from 3 to 6 inches) were observed in Texas, Oklahoma, and isolated areas of Louisiana. In Arkansas, some beneficial rains fell in the far-western portion of the state, which led to a boost in streamflow conditions. However, dry soils and significant precipitation deficits remain across the state with the NDMC CMOR tool showing many new impact reports during the past week. Looking at climatological rankings for the past 60-day period (February 7 to April 7), record to near-record dryness was observed in the region, including in Del Rio, TX (driest on record; -1.98 inches), Monticello, AR (4th driest; -5.7 inches), and Monroe, LA (7th driest; -6.69 inches). In Texas, Water for Texas (April 7) reports statewide reservoirs at 74% full, with eastern reservoirs in good condition while many western and southern reservoirs remain below normal. Average temperatures for the week were above normal across the region (2 to 12+ °F).
In the southeast: During the past week, dry conditions prevailed across most of the region, except for some isolated light-to-moderate rainfall accumulations (1 to 3 inches) observed in southern Florida, southwestern Georgia, and southern Alabama. On the map, drought expanded and intensified across much of the region including in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. In southern Georgia and northern Florida, areas of Exceptional Drought (D4) expanded in response to continued dryness, very poor soil moisture and hydrologic conditions. Impacts are being reported in northern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center’s (NDMC) Conditions Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) tool. According to data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center’s Climate Perspectives tool, the past two months (February 7 to April 7) have been very dry across areas of the region, with near-record dryness observed in the following locations: Gainesville, FL (2nd driest; -4.7 inch departure); Tallahassee, FL (4th driest; -6.13 inches); Savannah, GA (3rd driest; -4.36 inches); Montgomery, AL (2nd driest; -4.34 inches); North Charleston, SC (5th driest; -3.93 inches); and Charlotte, NC (7th driest; -2.85 inches). In terms of average temperatures for the week, above-normal temperatures (5 to 15 °F) were observed across the entire region, with Virginia experiencing the greatest departures.
In the West: Conditions continued to deteriorate in the region with degradations made across southern Oregon, Northern California, southwestern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and New Mexico. Despite some precipitation falling across the mountain ranges of the region this week, the snowpack conditions remain extremely poor with the remaining snowpack primarily restricted to the highest elevations. In Colorado, NRCS is reporting statewide SWE at the lowest on record. Historically, median peak SWE in Colorado occurs on April 8, however, this year peak SWE occurred on March 8. In Washington state, the Department of Ecology issued a statewide emergency drought declaration as projected water supplies are expected to be well below normal levels. In the Colorado River Basin, Lake Powell is 24% full, while Lake Mead is 33% full, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Across areas of the Far West, very dry conditions were observed during the past 30-day period (March 7 to April 7), with record to near-record dryness at the following locations: Eugene, OR (10th driest; -2.57 inches); Medford, OR (9th driest; -1.38 inches); Crescent City, CA (2nd driest; -5.58 inches); Mount Shasta, CA (driest on record; -5.35 inches); San Francisco, CA (5th driest; -2.34 inches); Santa Cruz (driest on record; -3.13 inches); Monterey, CA (3rd driest; -2.8 inches), and San Diego, CA (driest on record; -1.24 inches).
To view the 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook Map, click here.
To view the 6-10 Day Temperature Outlook Map, click here.
To view the Monthly Drought Outlook Map, click here.
