In May, the West saw the biggest decreases in drought areas, while the Southeast saw the biggest increases, according to National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) climatologist Deborah Bathke.

A steady improvement in conditions in northern California and western Nevada led to a reduction of extreme (D3) and severe (D4) drought in these areas. “Extreme southeastern California and the northwestern parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico also saw changes for the better, with some removal of moderate drought conditions,” Bathke noted.