How accurate is the US Drought Monitor?

Depicting the extent of drought in the U.S. can be a tricky task. The U.S. Drought Monitor is a tool authored by various individuals from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Drought Mitigation Center. However, it’s a resource that recently sprouted complaints that it’s too slow in accurately predicting the current level of drought. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said he understands the complaints, but assured that the U.S. Drought Monitor is still an accurate tool, as it doesn’t use a single piece of data, but many layers of data and information to compile the latest results each week. –Drovers CattleNetwork Read more…