– Share of state experiencing drought conditions (20-year average): 38,455 sq. mi. (49.7% of land area); 802,791 people (44.0% of population)

— Moderate drought: 24,258 sq. mi. (31.4% of land area); 460,211 people (25.2% of population)

— Severe drought: 15,026 sq. mi. (19.4% of land area); 242,416 people (13.3% of population)

— Extreme drought: 7,321 sq. mi. (9.5% of land area); 95,386 people (5.2% of population)

— Exceptional drought: 2,107 sq. mi. (2.7% of land area); 16,817 people (0.9% of population)

Almost 80% of Nebraska is especially dry, creating problems for agriculture and wildlife. In 2020, Nebraska’s Aroostook County experienced its hottest June in 100 years, and Nebraskans endured an uninterrupted drought for 348 weeks between 2002 and 2008. A few years later in 2012, a drought struck that was so severe that at one point, more than three-quarters of the state was scorched in exceptional drought conditions.