CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County is now the third county in Greater Cleveland to return to normal conditions typically seen outside of a drought. However, while conditions improved in Northeast Ohio, they worsened in Northwest Ohio and remained stagnant in the worst affected parts of the state, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Cool temperatures helped break the heat that exacerbated drought in Ohio in the last few weeks, helping remove dryness from Cuyahoga County and even lifting some moderate drought conditions in some southern counties.
Yet the weekly update on drought conditions released on Thursday, based on data through Tuesday, showed most of the southern and central counties in extreme and exceptional drought are still under the same conditions, while severe drought spreads in the northwest.
Altogether, 81.5% of Ohio is under drought or dry conditions, a slight decrease from last week’s 82.8%. An estimated 5.2 million Ohioans are now in affected areas.
Here’s a closer look at where things stand.
Northern Ohio
Abnormal dryness still impacts the perimeter of five counties in Greater Cleveland and other surrounding counties. However, the removal of dryness from Cuyahoga County in the last week indicates that Northeast Ohio is likely the first to make a full recovery.
The same cannot be said in Northwest Ohio. While the same parts of Fulton, Henry, Lucas and Williams counties are still under extreme drought, severe drought has spread in the region, enveloping the area as far down as Mercer County and as far east as Ottawa County.
Under severe drought, creeks dry up, crops suffer, soil is dry and cracked, trees lose their leaves and chances of fires increase.
Meanwhile, any county in Northwest Ohio that has not worsened to severe drought remains in a moderate drought.
When an area enters moderate drought, small brush fires can occur, water restrictions may be requested, hay and fruit yield can be low and fewer mosquitos are observed than usual. For abnormally dry areas, crop growth suffers and water levels decline.
Southern Ohio
The good news is that drought conditions did not worsen in the southern half of Ohio over the last week. The bad news is that it didn’t improve either.
Exceptional drought conditions, the highest classification of drought, remain unmoved. Just under 8% of the state, or parts of 16 counties, are still affected, the same as last week.
The U.S. Drought Monitor does not have historical instances to determine what usually happens in an exceptional drought because it is the first occurrence in Ohio in the 21st century.
Extreme drought, the second-highest drought classification, is a similar story. Along with the four counties in Northwest Ohio, 11.8% of counties in the state are still affected, or about two dozen counties. This is also the same amount and area as the week before.
Once areas enter extreme drought, lawns go dormant, crop yields are minimal, soybeans dry up and supplemental hay for livestock becomes necessary.
While severe drought conditions spread in Northwest Ohio, they remain unchanged in middle and southern Ohio. In total. However, due to the spread, it is the only drought classification that increased this week, with 16.9% of the state affected, up from 12.5% last week.
Finally, moderate drought saw mild improvements in the most southern Ohio counties of Gallia, Jackson and Lawrence counties. This has led to a slight improvement of 28.1% of the state in a moderate drought, down from 32.9% the week before.
The Midwest and the United States
U.S. Drought Monitor Map for Midwest Region, as of Tuesday, Oct. 15U.S. Drought Monitor
While drought conditions remained mostly steady in Ohio, they worsened for the rest of the Midwest.
Much of the northern Midwestern states are under a mix of abnormally dry conditions, moderate and severe drought. In the south, Missouri sees extreme drought in its southwestern counties, the only other state besides Ohio to have that level of drought.
Severe drought changed to moderate drought in northern Minnesota thanks to rain, while Kentucky is clear of all drought conditions after seeing drought for much of the summer with Ohio. Only some counties bordering Ohio and West Virginia still see some abnormal dryness.
More than half of the midwest is now in a moderate drought or worse, though Ohio remains the most affected state. More than 80% of the Midwest is experiencing dry conditions.
Only Ohio is experiencing exceptional drought conditions out of the Midwestern states. Along with bordering West Virginia, this area is one of four in the country affected by exceptional drought, the others being parts of Montana, Texas and Wyoming.
What were the drought conditions a month ago?
Ohio’s historic drought has worsened in southern counties, as exceptional levels of drought continue to spread. Meanwhile, moderate drought conditions touch Northeast Ohio for the second time this summer.U.S. Drought Monitor
A month ago, Ohio’s historic exceptional drought conditions continued to spread, breaking records set in the previous week. All of Ohio except Northeast Ohio and a small portion of Southern Ohio is in some level of drought.
Zachary Smith is the data reporter for cleveland.com. You can reach him at [email protected].
