National Current Conditions...

September 17, 2025 - September 23, 2025

This past week, drought worsened in every state east of the Mississippi River (except Wisconsin and Delaware). However, rain did bring improvements to parts of some of these states. In general, the Southwest saw drought improvements, while the Northwest worsened.
As of September 23, 2025, 36.39% of the U.S. and Puerto Rico and 43.41% of the lower 48 states are in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

This Week's Drought Summary…

It was a challenging period for drought monitoring, with a broad mix of improvement and deterioration. Additionally, a significant rainfall event was underway in parts of the central, eastern, and southern U.S. when the drought-monitoring period ended early Tuesday. Any precipitation that fell after the Tuesday cutoff will be considered for next week’s map. Broadly, precipitation fell across the Plains, Midwest, and mid-South, mostly from the central Rockies to the western slopes of the Appalachians. Locally significant showers also dotted the Southwest, providing limited drought relief but triggering flash flooding. In contrast, mostly dry weather prevailed in the Northwest, Intermountain West, Deep South, and along much of the Atlantic Coast.

 

Looking Ahead...

Rainfall will continue to shift southward and eastward, resulting in a boost in soil moisture in many areas experiencing short-term drought. Five-day rainfall should reach 1 to 3 inches or more across much of the eastern U.S., as well as portions of the Gulf Coast States. Once rain ends across the Plains and Midwest, dry weather will prevail for the next several days. Dry weather should extend into the Northwest until late in the weekend, when showers will arrive along the northern Pacific Coast. Elsewhere, a late-season monsoon surge will result in unusually heavy showers for this time of year in parts of the Southwest, leading to another round of possible flash flooding.
The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for September 30 – October 4 calls for near- or above-normal temperatures nationwide, with the north-central U.S. having the greatest likelihood of experiencing warmer-than-normal weather. Meanwhile, near- or above-normal precipitation across most of the country should contrast with drier-than-normal weather in a band stretching from the southern Plains into the Great Lakes region and the Northeast.