Drought conditions deepen across Kentucky on heels of extended hot and dry weather

By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today

The continued hot and mostly dry conditions of the past week has led to deepening drought conditions in parts of Kentucky, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report issued on Thursday.

Just over 26 percent of Kentucky is now considered to have no drought, which is less than half of the 57 percent reported last week. That number was 82 percent of the state, just two weeks ago.

42 percent of Kentucky is categorized as “Abnormally Dry,” or D0 on the scale which goes up to D4 for areas with “Exceptional Drought” conditions. The abnormally dry area last week was 34 percent, and only 15 percent two weeks ago, so that has more than doubled during that time.

“Moderate Drought” or D1 conditions have grown to 31 percent of Kentucky’s land area. That represents a four-fold jump from last week’s seven percent. There were no moderate drought areas of the state, just two weeks ago.

A small area of “Severe Drought,” D2, continues in portions of Boyd (38 percent) and Lawrence County (33 percent), but is only one-half percent statewide. That remains the same as last week.

Lindsay Johnson with the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, offered this summary of the Midwest, in which they place Kentucky, during the past week. “The southern and eastern Midwest missed out on the precipitation to the west and to the east, along with temperatures upwards of 6 to 8 degrees above normal, led to continued deterioration. Abnormally dry conditions expanded across southern and central Illinois and Indiana, and central Kentucky. Western Kentucky also saw the expansion of moderate drought.”

Johnson also noted that some parts of neighboring Ohio, particularly in the Southeast, are experiencing D4, “Exceptional Drought” conditions, for the first time in the 24 year history of the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Looking ahead, both the 6-10 day outlook and the 8-14 day outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center indicate above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced through a partnership between the NDMC, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Data is collected each Tuesday morning, with the report issued on Thursday.

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