Three states assessed as entirely in drought in the week of 25 August

The U.S. Drought Monitor's map for the week of 25 August 2026 assesses the entirety of Utah, Oklahoma and Wyoming as being in drought — that is, in category D1 or worse across 100% of the state's land area.

State	In drought (D1+)	Abnormally dry (D0)	Exceptional (D4)
Utah	100.0%	0.0%	0.3%
Oklahoma	100.0%	0.0%	12.1%
Wyoming	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%
New Mexico	95.5%	3.6%	7.7%
Oregon	91.0%	7.5%	3.9%
Colorado	90.3%	5.6%	13.7%
Nevada	89.5%	10.5%	0.8%
North Dakota	85.7%	10.9%	0.0%
Nebraska	67.4%	15.3%	1.6%
Texas	57.4%	32.7%	2.5%
Kansas	46.0%	23.9%	0.0%
Iowa	19.6%	10.9%	0.0%
California	13.9%	51.3%	0.0%
Illinois	0.0%	4.4%	0.0%

Colorado carries the largest share of any state in D4, exceptional drought, at 13.7%, followed by Oklahoma at 12.1%.

What "100% in drought" does and does not mean

It means every part of the state was placed in D1 or a more severe category by the week's assessment. It does not mean the whole state is in severe drought: Wyoming is wholly in drought with no D4 area at all, while Colorado is at 90.3% overall but with an eighth of its territory in the most severe category. The headline share and the severity are different questions.

It is also a share of land area, not of farms, of cropland, or of production. A state can be largely in drought while most of its irrigated cropland is not.

D0 is not drought

California appears low on the drought column at 13.9% while carrying 51.3% in D0. D0 is "abnormally dry", and the Drought Monitor is explicit that it is a precursor to drought and a category areas pass through while recovering — not drought itself.

The distinction is not pedantry. Across all fifty states in this week's map, counting D0 as drought would add 22.7 percentage points to the average state's figure. Summaries that fold it in are reporting a substantially different map from the one that was published.

This is an assessment, not a measurement

Each weekly map is drawn by a rotating author who combines several drought indicators with reports from local observers. It is the authoritative weekly account of drought in the United States, and it is a judgement rather than an instrument reading.

AgricultureID does not convert it into agricultural impact. Knowing that Oklahoma was wholly in drought in this week establishes exposure. What that did to a particular crop depends on stage, soil moisture, irrigation and management, and the step from exposure to damage is the entire claim.