- Monsoon storms brought some drought improvement to eastern Arizona and central New Mexico.
- Extreme drought remains widespread across Colorado and Wyoming.
- Southern California and southern Nevada remained dry and saw conditions worsen.
- More rain is forecast for the Four Corners, while California and Nevada may remain dry.
Saturday, September 26, 2026 — Across the United States, drought conditions moved in different directions this week as heavy rain soaked some areas while heat and dry weather continued elsewhere.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor
reports that some of the heaviest rain fell from the Upper Midwest east toward Ohio and West Virginia, where isolated locations received 6 to 8 inches. Parts of Kansas and Missouri received 3 to 5 inches, while areas stretching from western Nebraska into southeastern Montana picked up 2 to 3 inches.
Farther south, heat remained a major part of the weather pattern. Much of the South was 5 to 10 degrees warmer than normal, with some areas more than 15 degrees above normal. Dry conditions also continued across large portions of the region.
In the West, conditions were mixed. Rain brought relief to some areas, but severe drought remained across portions of the Colorado River Basin.
Monsoon Rain Brings Some Relief.
Eastern Arizona and central New Mexico received monsoon storms during the week, bringing enough rain to improve drought conditions in some locations.
The storms also caused localized flooding, illustrating the uneven nature of the week’s rainfall. Some places received significant moisture while drought remained entrenched elsewhere across the region.
Northern New Mexico continued to have some of the West’s largest areas of extreme to exceptional drought.
Colorado and Wyoming Remain Severely Dry.
Rain also reached portions of the High Plains, improving drought conditions in parts of every state in that region.
But the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that more precipitation will be needed to ease the continuing extreme drought covering much of Colorado and Wyoming.
Much of central Colorado remained in exceptional drought, the most severe category on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale.
That means the week’s rainfall brought improvement in some locations without eliminating the deeper drought affecting large portions of the two Colorado River Basin states.
California and Nevada Move the Other Direction.
Conditions worsened in parts of the Lower Colorado River Basin.
Southern California and southern Nevada continued to receive little rain, causing drought and abnormal dryness categories to worsen.
Central Utah also remained among the largest areas of extreme to exceptional drought in the West.
Taken together, the week’s changes show sharply different conditions across the seven Colorado River Basin states. Parts of Arizona and New Mexico benefited from monsoon moisture, while Colorado and Wyoming remained under severe drought, and dry conditions continued in southern California and southern Nevada.
More Rain Possible in the Four Corners.
Additional moisture could reach part of the basin after the period covered by the September 24 Drought Monitor.
The five-day forecast called for remnants of a tropical system to carry significant moisture into the Four Corners states and western Great Plains, with heavy rainfall possible.
California and Nevada, however, were among the areas expected to receive little rain during that period.
Above-normal temperatures were also expected to continue across the South and Southwest.
Looking farther ahead, the September 29 through October 3 outlook favored above-normal temperatures across the southern half of the continental United States. The Great Basin could see below-normal rainfall, while much of the central United States could see above-normal precipitation.
Any rainfall after the latest U.S. Drought Monitor cutoff will be reflected in subsequent drought assessments.
