- Much of the Southwest received little rain during the past week.
- Drought worsened in central Arizona and along the California-Nevada border.
- Extreme drought remains widespread across parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
- Rain is forecast for the Four Corners, while California and Nevada are expected to remain dry.
Saturday, September 19, 2026 — Drought conditions remain widespread across the United States, but the picture varies sharply by region.
Heavy rain brought improvement to portions of the Midwest and High Plains during the week covered by the September 17 U.S. Drought Monitor
. Parts of Iowa and southeastern Kansas received more than 4 inches of rain, while Florida and the Gulf Coast generally received 2 to 4 inches.
The Southwest largely missed out.
Most of the region received little rain, although scattered monsoon storms developed along the Arizona-New Mexico border. Meanwhile, temperatures were above normal across most of the continental United States.
For the seven Colorado River Basin states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — drought remained a prominent part of the landscape.
Rain Misses Much of the Southwest.
The latest Drought Monitor shows both improvement and deterioration within the Colorado River Basin.
Colorado illustrates that uneven pattern particularly well. Drought conditions worsened in central Colorado but improved in parts of southwestern and southeastern Colorado.
Despite those improvements, extreme drought remains across much of Colorado and Wyoming. Exceptional drought — the most severe category used by the U.S. Drought Monitor — continues across much of central Colorado.
Farther west, areas along the California-Nevada border received little to no rain and saw drought conditions worsen. Central Arizona also saw drought deterioration after receiving little or no rainfall.
Extreme drought remains across central Utah, northern Nevada and small areas of southern Arizona. Exceptional drought also continues in northern Nevada.
A Patchwork of Drought Conditions.
The week’s changes show how sharply conditions can differ even within the same region.
While parts of Colorado improved after receiving precipitation, other parts of the state deteriorated. Scattered monsoon rainfall reached portions of the Arizona-New Mexico border, but much of the broader Southwest remained dry.
Elsewhere in the West, rainfall from southwestern Oregon through central Washington and into northern Idaho and Montana brought some improvement. Those wetter conditions did not extend across much of the Colorado River Basin.
The result is a patchwork of drought categories, with some locations improving while others remain in extreme or exceptional drought.
Four Corners Could See Rain.
The short-term forecast offered the possibility of rainfall in part of the basin.
For the five days leading up to September 22, rain was forecast for the Four Corners states and portions of the western Great Plains.
California and Nevada, however, were forecast to remain dry.
Temperatures were also expected to remain much above normal across the central and southern United States.
Looking farther ahead, the September 22-26 outlook favored above-normal temperatures across nearly all of the continental United States. The Southwest was among the areas favored to receive above-normal precipitation during that period.
Whether those forecasts translate into changes in drought conditions will be reflected in future U.S. Drought Monitor reports.
