Southern Plains Drought Assessment 2020-2025
In March 2020, Moderate to Severe Drought (D1-D2) intensified rapidly to Exceptional Drought (D4) along the lower Rio Grande in Texas, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Over the next five years, drought severity waxed and waned across the Southern Plains, shifting location and extent but never leaving the region. Drought touched the lives of nearly every resident of the Southern Plains states (Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas).
The Southern Plains Drought Assessment 2020-2025 was produced as a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the Southern Regional Climate Center (SRCC) in support of the NIDIS Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law No: 115-423).
The first drought period examined in this assessment began on June 16, 2020 and ended nearly a year later, on June 8, 2021. The second drought period began on October 26, 2021, and ended on June 8, 2025. With only four months between these two drought events and the impacts of the first still lingering when the second began, these events were combined within this assessment.
The assessment examines the drought's development, progression, impacts to multiple sectors, and forecast model performance. The overarching goal of this document is to inform drought resilience and improve preparedness strategies for future events.
