Drought in Muskogee, Oklahoma

Much of eastern Oklahoma experienced below average precipitation for the month of March, with some of the area receiving as little as 5 to 10 percent of monthly average rainfall amounts. Rainfall amounts ranged from only one quarter to one half inch across portions of Osage and Pawnee Counties, to as much as five to seven inches elsewhere. These dry conditions, compounding on several months of dry weather, allowed the drought that developed across portions of the region in January to expand further in March. Severe (D2) drought conditions expanded across all of Osage, Pawnee, Washington, Nowata, Creek, Tulsa, Rogers, Mayes, Delaware, Wagoner, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, and McIntosh Counties, and expanded across portions of Craig, Ottawa, Cherokee, Muskogee, Adair, Pittsburg, Sequoyah, Pushmataha, and Choctaw Counties. Extreme (D3) drought conditions affected portions of Choctaw, Delaware, Mayes, Wagoner, and Cherokee Counties during the month. Monetary damage estimates as a result of the drought were not available.