Drought in Ohio, September 1 to 30, 2025

Name: Drought in Ohio, September 1 to 30, 2025
Start: 2025-09-01T00:00
End: 2025-09-30T23:59
Location: Ohio

September 1 to 30, 2025 · NWS RLX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS RLX wrote it up.

Fairly dry conditions were observed from late August into September, which resulted in abnormally dry (D0) to moderate drought (D1) conditions across portions of southeast Ohio by the beginning of the month. As a prolonged period of dry weather continued through the second week of the month, D1 spread across most of southeast Ohio while a pocket of severe drought (D2) formed in eastern Washington County. Although most of southeast Ohio saw no change during the third week of the month, a small area of improvement to D0 did occur where locally heavy rain fell in parts of Gallia, Jackson, and Lawrence Counties.

Multiple rounds of rain and thunderstorms brought more substantial precipitation, which resulted in one to two category improvements across most of southeast Ohio by the end of the month. D1 to D2 persisted in Perry, northwest Vinton, and eastern Washington Counties, while improvement to D0 or better occurred in Athens, Gallia, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, southeast Vinton, and western Washington.

Impacts during the height of the drought included reduced crop yield, dry grasses, low streamflow, and the necessity of supplemental feed for livestock. A midge-transmitted disease called Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) also significantly impacted deer populations across southeast Ohio. Although EHD does occur annually, drought conditions can trigger outbreaks that do not typically subside until after the first frost. By the end of September, at least 6,000 deer fatalities in southeast Ohio were attributed to EHD.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 6:30 PM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 6:30 PM EST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Charleston WV
730 PM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

.SYNOPSIS...
Dry weather opens up the month of September amid high
pressure. Better rain chances arrive around mid-week ahead of a
cold front.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/...
As of 445 PM Sunday...

Main change this period was to bump up POPs for the mountains
between now and 00z to show a bit broader area of scattered
showers and storms along and near the mountains, given current
conditions and latest hi-res guidance. Still expect things to be
mostly wrapped up by 00z/8pm this evening. Otherwise, did tweak
forecast lows down a bit by blending in the NBM 10th
percentile, given how observed lows have been undercutting the
deterministic NBM on these recent clear and calm nights.

As of 130 PM Sunday...

A pleasant afternoon is underway for most of the forecast area
today under the guise of nearby high pressure. The afternoon
cumulus field that has stretched up the Appalachian mountains
has sprouted a few showers and storms down in the southern
coalfields. This area of activity should trail off quickly this
evening with the loss of diurnal heating, setting up for another
quiet night across the area outside of river valley fog
formation.

The month of September opens up with the continuation of mostly
quiet weather with the support of high pressure parked over the
Great Lakes region. A lack of shortwave energy will yield little
to no chances for precipitation Monday afternoon. Temperatures
will adjust up a degree or two between this afternoon and
Monday, with a few spots in the Tri-State area settling into the
low 80s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
As of 130 PM Sunday...

After a stretch of dry weather, potential for showers and
storms make their return to the forecast area by the latter half
of the day Tuesday. This will be in response to surface high
pressure becoming nudged eastward ahead of a disturbance
arriving closer to midweek. Low level winds veering out of an
onshore flow position will encourage increased moisture to set
up a warmer, and slightly unstable atmosphere to support a few
afternoon showers and embedded thunderstorms to drift into
eastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia before sunset.
This potential grows in earnest on Wednesday as additional
moisture streams into the region amid an encroaching cold front.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/...
As of 130 PM Sunday...

Pre-frontal southerly flow will continue to usher in moisture
for the start of the forecast period that will aid in showers
and storms first noted during the day on Wednesday. While
coverage will diminish with the loss of daytime heating
Wednesday night, central guidance still holds onto precipitation
chances of around 30 percent during the overnight period. This
potential rises steadily throughout the day Thursday as the cold
front swings through the Ohio Valley. Frontal passage is slated
to take place sometime between Thursday night and Friday
morning, and should be quickly followed by a secondary frontal
boundary for the end of the work week. After the parade of
frontal boundaries, rain chances will clear out for the start of
the weekend.

&&

.AVIATION /23Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
As of 730 PM Sunday...

We continue our game of "Where and when will it fog tonight?",
and given similar conditions to last night, we held with the 18z
forecast thinking of a repeat of last night. Several hours of
dense fog before and just after dawn are expected at EKN, with
a shorter period at CRW, possibly just briefly around dawn as
the fog lifts out of the Elk River valley and affects the
airfield. For now, we are not forecasting fog to impact any
other TAF sites, as gradient winds may keep things mixed just
enough, but will need to watch if the others besides BKW can
fully decouple. Otherwise, should be VFR conditions through the
period with calm or light winds.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY...

FORECAST CONFIDENCE: High.

ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Timing or extent of valley fog later
tonight may vary from the forecast.

EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY
OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION:
H = HIGH:   TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.
M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS.
L = LOW:    TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.

DATE                                                                 MON
UTC 1HRLY       23   00   01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10
EDT 1HRLY       19   20   21   22   23   00   01   02   03   04   05   06
CRW CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    L    L
HTS CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
BKW CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
EKN CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    M    L    M    M
PKB CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
CKB CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H

AFTER 00Z TUESDAY...
IFR conditions possible in heavier showers and storms within an
encroaching cold front starting midweek.

&&

.CLIMATE...
A record low temperature of 46 degrees was set at Parkersburg,
WV today. This breaks the old record of 49 degrees set in 1929
and also tied in 1935 and 1976.

Over the last five days, Parkersburg has set or tied a record
on four of the five days (set two and tied two).

&&

.RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WV...None.
OH...None.
KY...None.
VA...None.

&&

SYNOPSIS...MEK/FK
NEAR TERM...MEK/FK
SHORT TERM...MEK
LONG TERM...MEK
AVIATION...FK

CLIMATE...MEK/GW

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Athens

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Athens forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.334, -82.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Gallia

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where: Gallia forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 38.825, -82.317 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Jackson

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.020, -82.618 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lawrence

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lawrence forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 38.599, -82.537 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Meigs

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Meigs forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.082, -82.023 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Morgan

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Morgan forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.620, -81.853 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Perry

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.737, -82.236 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Vinton

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Vinton forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.251, -82.485 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Washington

When: September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.455, -81.495 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Ohio in 2025 Every state in 2025 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, September 2025

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1289867, 1289868, 1289869, 1289870, 1289871, 1289872, 1289873, 1289874, 1289875.