Drought Information

U.S. Drought Monitor map displaying current drought conditions across Ohio on 10/22/24.

Drought conditions remain mostly status quo throughout the state, with only minor improvements to areas in and around Geauga County in Northeast Ohio according to the newest US Drought Monitor map. The most recent week continued another extended sequence of less than normal rainfall, with only areas of in the northeast seeing beneficial precipitation. This pattern of dry and warmer than average conditions looks to continue into at least the next week, with only temporary interruptions of chilly weather or chances of showers coming from a stray cold front or two in the coming days. Despite the continued dryness, we have continued to observe declining evapotranspiration rates and a seasonal decrease in high temperatures which has helped to curb the spread of additional drought areas. In addition, the growing season has ended for most with harvests underway and the first frost/freezes observed in the last two weeks. This helps to mute drought impacts on the agricultural and ecological side. That said, almost 65% of Ohio remains in D1-D4 drought conditions, with almost 20% remaining in the most serious Extreme of Exceptional drought categories.

Ohio Drought Information

National Integrated Drought Information System - Ohio Dashboard: A comprehensive overview of the most current scope of drought, observed conditions, statistics, and available resources for the state of Ohio.

NWS Drought Information Statements: A more detailed look at evolving drought and hydrological conditions in specific weather service forecast office regions. Offices currently issuing drought information statements include NWS Wilmington, OH (ILN), NWS Cleveland, OH (CLE), NWS Charleston, WV (RLX), NWS Northern Indiana (IWX), and NWS Pittsburgh, PA (PBZ).

State Climate Office of Ohio - Monthly Summaries: SCOO's Monthly Summaries will provide updates on temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture trends as well as notable updates on drought conditions throughout the state.

U.S. Drought Monitor: A national perspective on drought conditions and hydrologic data. USDM map products are updated every Thursday morning, and are featured in many other resources linked above.

Resources for the Public

Federal Emergency Management Agency's Ready.gov - Drought: 'Ready' is a branch of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) that helps educate and empower Americans for when disasters strike. This specific page provides lists of actionable steps the general public can take to help combat drought conditions and impacts.

Red Cross - Drought Preparedness & Water Conservation: The 'Red Cross' is a worldwide organization that aims to prevent and reduce human suffering by providing assistance without discrimination. This webpage includes a list of ways the general public can get engaged with water conservation to take action before and when drought occurs.

National Weather Service - Understand Drought and Know How to Respond: This web page provides an overview of droughts as well as the different types of droughts. It also has sections on monitoring and outlooks, ways to take action, the impacts of droughts, and hydroclimate. 

Resources by Sector

Agriculture

CFAES Knowledge Exchange - Early Drought Response: The webpage of a College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences Rapid Response Team, created to quickly address current events and offer the best science-based recommendations to protect livestock, crops, and farm operations, currently covering drought conditions and impacts for Ohio's farmers, growers, and producers. Best suited for an agriculture audience but also provides thorough condition and observational updates that can be used by general audiences as well.

Ecosystems

National Integrated Drought Information System - Ecosystems: Drought can alter the ecological balance of natural systems and harm fish, wildlife, and plant species, as well as the services that these ecosystems provide to human communities.

Navigation and Transportation

National Integrated Drought Information System - Navigation and Transportation: This webpage displays information on how droughts can impact different areas of transportation and navigation including ports, waterways, pavement, and rail lines, and cause sinkholes and wildfires to develop. It also showcases an interactive map with overlaid information on current drought conditions and the locations of roadways, rivers, airports, and railways.

Public Health

Drought and Health - A Messaging Framework for Public Health Professionals & Healthcare Providers: A guide recently released by a research team from the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Public Health for assisting healthcare providers and public health officials in communicating the health risks of drought. This framework was designed to provide a background on drought and its impacts on public health as well as assist public health professionals and healthcare providers in choosing messaging and response strategies for their individual communities.

Drought and Public Health - A Roadmap for Advancing Engagement and Preparedness: This report represents the culmination of knowledge gathered around drought events and their connection to human health impacts. This report lists key opportunities and recommended actions to take when dealing with the public health impacts of drought by providing examples of previous cases found through interviews, summits, and workshops.

Recreation and Tourism

National Integrated Drought Information System - Recreation and Tourism: Drought impacts the tourism and recreation sectors both directly and indirectly, and affects the sectors during all seasons. Lower water levels or snowpack affects the availability of recreational activities and associated tourism, and a resulting loss of revenue can severely impact supply chains and the economy locally, regionally, and potentially nationally.

Water Utilities

National Integrated Drought Information System - Water Utilities: Drought can result in significant operational impacts to water utilities, including a loss of water supply and poor source water quality. Building drought resilience for water utilities means increasing their ability to respond to water supply threats, withstand impacts from drought, and quickly recover when drought does occur.

Is your sector not included? Click here to view additional sector information.

Observations and Forecasts

Current Observations

Condition Monitoring Observer Reports: The Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) is a nation-wide service provided by the National Drought Mitigation Center, based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, developed in partnership with the National Integrated Drought Information System and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Public users can submit observations and conditions at their location to support the U.S. Drought Monitor

CoCoRaHS Condition Monitoring: If you are a member of the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network, you can use this link to learn more about submitting condition monitoring reports through CoCoRaHS and see submitted reports from CoCoRaHS members. 

Want to help? Submit local condition reports here: Desktop - Mobile

Short Term Forecasts

Ohio NWS Offices: Find your office on the map 

Northern Indiana - Cleveland - Wilmington - Pittsburgh - Charleston

Long Term Forecasts

Climate Prediction Center's Outlooks: The CPC provides predictions of climate variability for both temperature and precipitation. These outlooks cover ranges from 6-10 days to looking ahead over the next three months. It is important to note when viewing these outlooks that they display probabilities of being above or below normal but do not give a lot of indication of the magnitude of these variations.

Statewide Media Drought Coverage: