Wichita County continues in “extreme drought”

The entire body of Wichita County remained in the “extreme drought” category, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report for Tuesday, Oct. 15 and released Thursday, Oct. 17.
The report was unchanged from the Oct. 8 report. The “extreme drought” area also included the northern half of Clay County along with portions of Wilbarger, Foard, Hardeman, Childress and Cottle counties in Texas, and all of Cotton, Jefferson and Tillman counties in Oklahoma.
About 10 years ago, much of Texas and Oklahoma was suffering from a prolonged drought which began in 2011 and ended with torrential rains during April and May of 2015. According to the Drought Monitor report on Oct. 14, 2014, all of Wichita County was in the ‘exceptional drought” category, one rung above “extreme drought” along with the northern portion of Clay County, and portions of Archer, Baylor, Foard, Knox and Wilbarger counties in Texas along with Cotton, Jefferson and Tillman counties in Oklahoma.
The U.S. Drought Monitor Report classifications with increases of intensity start at “abnormally dry”, then escalate to “moderate drought, “severe drought”, “extreme drought” with the most severe category as “exceptional drought.”