Drought Update for December 16, 2025

This Week's U.S. Drought Monitor Map of Alabama

A map of U.S. Drought Monitor drought levels in Alabama for the week of December 16, 2025.

Statewide Condition Summary

What's Changed? A strip of D2 Severe Drought in Southeast Alabama was reduced to D1 Moderate Drought. D0 Abnormal Dryness now spreads along the entire Tennessee border, and a good portion of northern counties saw widespread expansion of D0 and D1 conditions.

What's New? Despite slight improvements in Southeast counties, most of the state remains stagnant. With little to no rain over the past week and overall streamflows approaching or surpassing drought thresholds, most areas are still abnormally dry or in drought. More of our typical winter rains are needed to see large scale improvements.

What's Next? With only slight rain in the forecast, expect conditions to remain steady or improve slightly in select areas.

Statewide Coverage by Category

CategoryCoverage This WeekChanges Since Last Week
D0: Abnormally Dry 20.44% 27.78%
D1: Moderate Drought 62.80% 16.60%
D2: Severe Drought 8.64% 3.90%
D3: Extreme Drought 2.43% 0.00%
D4: Exceptional Drought 0.00% 0.00%

Source: U.S. Drought Monitor, authored by Lindsay Johnson (National Drought Mitigation Center) with input from the Alabama Office of the State Climatologist

 

After recent rainfall, Alabama is seeing limited drought improvement, particularly across Southeast Alabama where a strip of Severe Drought (D2) improved to Moderate Drought (D1). However, conditions remain largely unchanged across much of the rest of the state, and 94% of Alabama is still experiencing some level of abnormal dryness or drought. About three-quarters of the state remains in an official drought category (USDM D1–D3), with dryness expanding across much of North Alabama and abnormally dry conditions now stretching along the entire Tennessee border. Streamflows in many areas are approaching or meeting drought thresholds, and with little rainfall over the next week, widespread improvement remains limited. More of our typical winter rainfall is needed to see meaningful, large-scale recovery from drought conditions.

Download the Alabama Drought Update Graphic

Alabama Drought Update for December 16, 2025: Southeast Alabama saw slight drought improvements, while North Alabama saw an increase in abnormal dryness and moderate drought.

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