Puerto Rico drought conditions

• D0 Abnormally dry
• D1 Moderate drought
• D2 Severe drought
• D3 Extreme drought
• D4 Exceptional drought

• D0 Abnormally dry
• D1 Moderate drought
• D2 Severe drought
• D3 Extreme drought
• D4 Exceptional drought

Weeks with some drought

373 of 1,394 (27%)

Worst category reached

D3 Extreme drought, last the week of Sep 15, 2026

Most widespread

75.2% in drought, week of Sep 1, 2026

Longest spell

91 weeks, Dec 22, 2020 to Sep 13, 2022

Current spell

16 weeks, since Jun 2, 2026

Drawn from the Drought Impact Reporter and local observers.

In Puerto Rico, some locations did experience heavy rain over the past week, which improved drought conditions. Additional rainfall will be needed to ameliorate extreme drought conditions in the northeast as well as the central-to-southern coast.

St. Croix experienced highly variable and light rainfall this week. The NWS/NOAA station at East Hill recorded 0.13 inches. The CoCoRaHS network recorded 0.48 inch at Christiansted 1.6 E (VI-SC-10), 0.07 inch at Frederiksted 1.7 ESE (VI-SC-20) and Christiansted 6.5 W (VI-SC-23), 0.18 inch at Christiansted 1.7 SW (VI-SC-30), 0.70 inches at Frederiksted 1.9 NE (VI-SC-34) and 0.12 inch at Frederiksted 1.3 ENE (VI-SC-35). Thus, reported rainfall ranged from 0.07 to 0.80 inches, with the largest amount occurring in the Christiansted area. The groundwater conditions remained very poor. At Adventure 28 Well, the water level on September 15 was 25.85 feet, compared with 18.62 feet on September 15, 2025, indicating the water level was about 7.2 feet lower than a year earlier. These conditions indicate continued short-term extreme drought (D3-S).

This week, St. John experienced sparce rainfall although available observations are limited. The Rafe Boulon (VI-SJ-3) station at Windswept Beach recorded 0.3 inches, while the CoCoRaHS station VI-SJ-5 at Cruz Bay 1.6 E recorded 0.38 inches and station VI-SJ-10 at Cruz Bay 3.1 NNW recorded 0.5 inches. None of the stations measured over half-an-inch of rainfall. At Susannaberg DPW 3 well, the water level on September 15 was measured at 18.73 feet below the land surface, compared to12.68 feet on September 15, 2025. This 6.10-foot difference indicates the groundwater level is substantially deeper now than it was a year ago. Observations showed that the depth continued to increase from the previous week, and St. John remains in short-term extreme drought (D3-S) conditions.

St. Thomas observed significant variability in rainfall this week. While Cyril E. King Airport recorded no rainfall, CoCoRaHS station VI-ST-5 at Charlotte Amalie West 4.2 WNW measured 1.01 inches and station VI-ST-15 at Charlotte Amalie West 1.3 N recorded 0.43 inches. This shows a rainfall range of 0.00 to 1.01 inches. On September 15, groundwater levels were at 8.41 feet, up from 9.76 feet the previous week and almost equal to 8.22 feet this time last year on September 15, 2025. Despite this week's improvement in groundwater depth, 3- to 12-month precipitation indicators show large precipitation deficits remain and St. Thomas continues to experience short-term extreme drought (D3-S) conditions.

Looking ahead

Over the next five days leading up to next Tuesday, above normal rainfall is forecast in south Florida as well as a large area in southern Wisconsin and Minnesota into eastern Iowa and northern Illinois. The latter area of forecasted rainfall continues to the east through central Michigan, the southern Great Lakes, Pennsylvania, New York, and much of central and southern New England. Other locations with rainfall in the forecast this week are in the Appalachian Mountains, the western Great Plains, and the Four Corners states. Unfortunately, most of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are forecast to receive little rainfall. Dry conditions are also forecast in California, Nevada, and Washington. Much above normal temperatures are forecast to continue this week in the central and southern U.S.

The 6- to 10-day outlook (September 22-26, 2026) favors above normal temperatures continuing over nearly all of the continental United States. Areas most likely to be above normal are again the south into the southeast, plus the far north. Hawaii is also likely to be above normal. For precipitation, the Eastern Seaboard is likely to have above normal rainfall as is the Southwest. The central U.S. into the upper Midwest is likely to have below normal rainfall. Hawaii and Alaska are both likely to have above normal rain during this period.

Written by Lindsay Johnson, National Drought Mitigation Center; David Mocko, SSAI, NASA/GSFC. The national narrative.

D0 Abnormally dry

Going into or coming out of drought.

D1 Moderate drought

Some damage to crops and pastures; water shortages developing.

D2 Severe drought

Crop or pasture losses likely; water restrictions imposed.

D3 Extreme drought

Major crop and pasture losses; widespread water shortages.

D4 Exceptional drought

Exceptional and widespread losses; water emergencies.

The US Drought Monitor is drawn every week by authors at the National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA and NOAA, who weigh rainfall, soil moisture, streamflow, groundwater, vegetation health and reports from local observers. Each map shows conditions through Tuesday morning and is released on Thursday. It shows where drought is and how bad it is; it does not forecast it. CPC's outlooks do that.

Statistics and narrative from the US Drought Monitor, courtesy of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with USDA and NOAA. Outlooks from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Impacts from NDMC's State Impacts tool.