Louisiana Drought: Already Bad and Only Getting Worse

By Jay Grymes

Louisiana State Climatologist

The Louisiana Drought Team, in collective partnership with the USDM national authors, the NWS, and the LDAF, has continued to downgrade conditions across the Bayou State with this week's USDM update ... as 'normal' spring rains fail to develop.

According to the most recent USDM evaluation for the Bayou State, more than 90% of the state is rated as "in drought" with better than half of the state categorized as in "Extreme Drought" (D3).  This is creating a nightmarish scenario for some of Louisiana's ag-producers, compounded by steep fuel and fertilizer costs along with "soft" commodity markets.

Note that the current situation is not as critical as conditions during the 2023 drought that led to one of the state's most problematic wildfire outbreaks.  However, the onset of the deepening 2026 drought has arrived much earlier in the year.

According to NWS Climate Prediction Center outlooks, there is room for cautious optimism that rains will return over the next 1-4 weeks ... fingers crossed.