Severe drought spreads in 7 states, led by Mississippi
What's new Severe drought or worse covers 74.17% of Mississippi on the Drought Monitor map of Nov. 3, 2026; 7 states rose 10 points or more in four weeks.
Why it matters PostNewz flagged on Nov. 9, 2026 that severe drought now covers 74.17% of Mississippi, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map of Nov. 3, 2026 as published by NOAA's drought.gov (watch_flags #193, #194, #195, #196, #197, #198, #199), up from 38.75% four weeks earlier, the largest rise of 7 states the watch flagged. Each of the 7 states has 20% or more of its area in severe drought or worse after a rise of 10 points or more in four weeks, the measure the watch flags against each state's baseline four weeks earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor: Mississippi 74.17% (from 38.75%); Tennessee 58.45% (from 34.11%); Louisiana 78.74% (from 63.11%); Michigan 25.62% (from 10.95%); Maine 60.07% (from 46.16%); North Carolina 39.26% (from 25.37%); Missouri 36.23% (from 25.1%).
What the record shows nationally: Across 104 months, the 12-month change in the share of the lower 48 in severe drought or worse (D2+) lines up best with food-at-home inflation 12 months later (correlation +0.45; lags 0-12 tested, all between -0.10 and +0.45). A loose, descriptive link, not a forecast.
Room for disagreement
The Drought Monitor is a weekly assessment by federal and university scientists that blends several measures; a four-week jump can ease with one storm system, and the national link to food prices is loose and descriptive, not a forecast for any one state.
About the data
Every figure in this story is read from PostNewz's watch_flags and watch_story_proposals tables (writer vps:pnwarn1/w6_drought.py) (8 rows read Nov 12, 11:40 AM UTC): W6 flag (watch_flags #199) meets the threshold MacKenzie approved (mackenzie_channel #339, her answer: 2. Assign, hannah-lowe: watch_story_proposals #48.); watch_story_proposals #48; watch_flags #193, #194, #195, #196, #197, #198, #199; Written by code from those rows (pnwarn3-pnj-v32.4; no model prose); neutrality check passed. All dates and times are UTC.