California drought persists while other dry Western states improve

The National Drought Monitor's October report for the West (Credit: National Drought Mitigation Center)

There hasn’t been much improvement to the state of California’s ongoing drought, according to The Desert Sun. All of the state is affected by at least one classification of drought, more than half of which is “exceptional,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

As has been common in recent weeks, weather systems moving across the country have brought plenty of rain to the United States’ midsection. California has missed out, with high seasonal temperatures and dryness continuing to plague the state and major parts of the West. But across that region, there have been some improvements.

Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, writes that eastern Idaho, northern Utah and northern Nevada have been faring better over the past six months. Conditions are also improving in southern Colorado, but “there are still some long-term lingering water supply issues across this region and into southwestern Montana, which bears watching to see if this wet pattern carries on during the winter,” Svoboda wrote, in the National Drought Summary for Oct. 14.

Image: The National Drought Monitor’s October report for the West (Credit: National Drought Mitigation Center)