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The summer of 2024 has been relatively hot and dry across much of the contiguous United States, and the area that is either abnormally dry (yellow) or in some level of drought (moderate, light orange; severe, orange; extreme, bright red; exceptional, dark red) expanded considerably between June 4 (left) and August 27 (right). Areas of exceptional drought appeared in Montana, Texas, West Virginia, and Ohio. Moderate to severe drought was in place in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, the Southern Plains, and the Deep South. NOAA Climate.gov map from our Data Snapshots Collection, based on data from the U.S. Drought Monitor project.