© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Oklahoma sees slight improvements after months of harsh drought

A dry, cracked pond bed at Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge.
Graycen Wheeler
/
OPMX
A dry, cracked pond bed at Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge.

After months of worsening drought, Oklahomans saw some improvement last week. But most of the state is still exceptionally dry.

TheU.S. Drought Monitor releases a report every week highlighting areas in five different stages of drought based on precipitation, soil moisture and other statistics. Last week, Oklahoma’s report showed improvements in all five categories.

From July to the beginning of December, 100% of the state was in some stage of drought. But even after snow and rain over the past few weeks, 95% of the state is still there.

Northern Oklahoma is still inextreme or exceptional drought, which can lead to water shortages and agricultural losses. But parts of the state’s southeast corner have escaped drought classification for now.

Here's how the drought has changed over time:

This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.

Oklahoma Public Media Exchange
More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.