The current U.S. Evaporative Drought Demand Index (EDDI) clearly identifies much of the southern half of the U.S. as rainfall starved with attendant worsening dry to drought soil moisture. The driest EDDI is located over the Desert Southwest, south-central Nebraska, and parts of eastern Kentucky, the eastern Carolinas and Florida. The northern U.S. has benefited from cool temperatures, snowmelt and wet periods to cause a EDDI wet surplus.

The last major summer drought in the U.S. was observed in 2012 when the Great Plains were hit hard! The soil moisture conditions during May 2012 were quite dry but not as dry as May 2022. Given a 3rd consecutive La Nina summer the U.S. is likely to encounter a historic drought.