Page Note: Idaho Drought

Idaho's drought conditions showed meaningful improvement this week, easing to 86% from 97% the prior week—an 11.7 percentage point decline. This represents the strongest week-over-week movement in recent data.

However, the broader context remains concerning:

• Month-over-month conditions are essentially flat, suggesting the weekly improvement may be volatility rather than a sustained trend reversal
• Year-over-year comparison shows minimal change (−0.5%), indicating drought persists at similar severity to this time last year
• vs. 5-year median reveals the stark challenge: at 86%, Idaho's drought level is 89.4% worse than the historical median of 45%, underscoring that despite this week's improvement, drought conditions remain significantly elevated by historical standards

The week's relief is a positive signal, but drought severity remains well above normal. Sustained improvement would require consecutive weeks of easing to signal a reversal in the broader pattern.