Nearly All of Arkansas in Severe Drought

The past week’s dry weather has led to nearly all of Arkansas being classified in severe drought status.

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s analysis released Thursday shows that all of the state, except for a few pockets, are in a severe drought. The report says that last week, less than 1 percent of the state was classified as severe. On Thursday, more than 83 percent of the state met that classification.

The U.S. Drought Monitor has five classifications – abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought. Before Thursday, the bulk of Arkansas was considered in moderate drought.

The report shows that extreme northeastern Clay County is in extreme drought.