Montana drought

Share of state area in drought (D1-D4) or worse, week over week

Data through Sep 29, 2026 · source last checked Oct 1, 2026 · page revised Oct 1, 2026

Cite

Montana: 38% of area in drought (D1-D4) or worse as of Sep 29, 2026 (US Drought Monitor). The Waterline. https://the-waterline.com/drought/montana

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<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://the-waterline.com/drought/montana?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=credit">The Waterline</a> · updates automatically</p>
<p style="font-size:11px;color:#6b6b6b;margin:2px 0 0">About this data: US Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, NOAA) · Share of area in moderate drought (D1) or worse · Montana · % · Conditions as of the prior Tuesday · through Sep 29, 2026</p>

Free to republish with attribution. The chart updates automatically as new data lands.

About this data

Source: US Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, NOAA)
Series: Share of area in moderate drought (D1) or worse
Geography: Montana
Unit: %
Calculation: Conditions as of the prior Tuesday
Last observation: Sep 29, 2026
Update frequency: Weekly, released Thursdays

Drought eased week over week (now 38%).

Montana drought coverage fell to 38% of state area, down 6 percentage points week over week and 19 points from a month ago. At 38%, the state sits 4 points below its 5-year median for this period.

The numbers
Period	Current	Prior	Change
Week over week	38%	44%	-6 pts
Month over month	38%	57%	-19 pts
Year over year	38%	41%	-3 pts
vs 5-yr median	38%	42%	-4 pts

Drought categories on the Sep 29, 2026 map
Category	Share of area in this category	At this level or worse
D0 abnormally dry	23.3%	61%
D1 moderate drought	24.7%	37.8%
D2 severe drought	8.1%	13.1%
D3 extreme drought	4.9%	4.9%
D4 exceptional drought	0%	0%

Previous weeks

Week of Sep 22, 2026

Drought coverage in Montana eased to 44%, down 3 points on the week. Over the month, the area in drought fell 12 points. Year-over-year, coverage is up 3 points from 40%.

Week of Sep 8, 2026

Drought eased to 53% of Montana, down 4 percentage points on the week. The share remains 10 percentage points above the 5-year median and 17 points above last year's level.

Week of Sep 1, 2026

Drought worsened to 57% of the state, up 1 point on the week. The month-over-month increase of 7 points and year-over-year rise of 21 points reflect sustained deterioration across Montana. The current coverage sits 16 points above the 5-year median for this period.

Week of Aug 25, 2026

Montana's drought coverage rose to 56%, up 1 percentage point from the prior week. Month over month the increase is 10 percentage points, year over year 14 percentage points. Coverage stands 14 percentage points above the 5-year median.

Montana drought conditions

Montana has 37.8% of its area in drought (D1 or worse) on the US Drought Monitor map dated Sep 29, 2026, and 61% at least abnormally dry (D0 or worse). The most severe category present is D3, extreme drought, covering 4.9% of the state.

Over the last 52 weekly maps the share in drought ranged from 18.2% (Jan 13, 2026) to 76.7% (Jun 23, 2026), and every one of them showed at least some drought.

The Monitor sorts land into five categories, from D0, abnormally dry and not yet drought, to D4, exceptional drought, and this page counts D1 through D4 as drought. The guide to what D0 to D4 mean explains each class, who draws the weekly map and why it lags a fast-moving storm.