Drought Information Statement for Northern Ohio
Valid September 25, 2025
Issued By: NWS Cleveland
Contact Information: nicholas.greenawalt@noaa.gov  
This product will be updated by October 23, 2025 or sooner if drought conditions significantly change.
Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements.
Please visit https://www.weather.gov/cle/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. 
Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates for regional drought status updates.
Drought conditions have worsened across most of Northwest Ohio and portions of North Central to Northeast Ohio 
Severe Drought (D3) conditions have developed across portions of Northwest Ohio, including portions of Hancock and Wood counties. 
Drought conditions remain stable or slightly improved across the southeast portion of the forecast area due to recent rainfall.


U.S. Drought Monitor

Drought intensity and Extent
D3 (Extreme Drought): Far northern Hancock and far southern Wood counties in Northwest Ohio.
D2 (Severe Drought): Most of Northwest Ohio along and north of a Findlay to Vermilion line.
D1 (Moderate Drought): Much of Northern Ohio and interior Northwest Pennsylvania.
D0: (Abnormally Dry): The Central Highlands to the Canton and Youngstown areas in Ohio and near the lakeshore of Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, excluding north-central Erie County, PA. 

Recent Change in Drought Intensity
Link to the latest 4-week change map for Northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania
Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. 
Drought developed and/or degraded across the majority of the forecast area.
The Erie, PA area is the only location in the forecast area that has not experienced drought or abnormally dry conditions due to minimal precipitation deficits/drought impacts.
Some minor improvements from last week across the southeast portion of the forecast area due to above normal rainfall over the past seven days.

Precipitation
Highest 30-day rainfall totals of 2 to 5 inches have fallen generally along and south of a Marion to Cleveland to Erie, PA line, with much of this rainfall occurring in the past seven days.
The majority of Northwest and North Central Ohio has received less than an inch of rainfall over the past 30 days, which a small portion of North Central Ohio only receiving one half inch or less of rainfall during this period.

Summary of Impacts
Streamflows values are generally below normal where severe drought (D2) or worse conditions are present. (USGS)
The riverbeds of many creeks and small streams are dry. (CoCoRaHS) 

Agricultural Impacts
Crop growth is stunted, especially across D1 to D3 areas. (CoCoRaHS)
Abnormally dry daily shallow soil moisture values across the area. (CPC)
Low Crop Moisture Index values across the area, especially in D1 and D2 areas. (CPC)

Fire Hazard Impacts
No known impacts at this time.

Other Impacts
No known impacts at this time.

Mitigation Actions
Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information.

Seven Day Precipitation Forecast
Dry weather is favored through the majority of the the next week, outside of small rain chances Thursday night.
7-day rainfall totals of less than 0.5 inches expected across the area, with most of this precipitation occurring before Friday morning (9/26).


Long-Range Outlooks
The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage
The monthly precipitation outlook for October doesn’t favor above or below normal precipitation across the region.
The monthly temperature outlook for October predicts a 40 to 50% chance of above normal temperatures. 


Drought Outlook
The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage
Drought conditions are predicted to persist across the much of the local area through the end of 2025.