PlainHazard

Alabama drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 67 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 2,670 drought records in Alabama from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 146 a year since 2000. Alabama ranks 8th of 51 states and territories by count and 8th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Alabama, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
2,6701996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
146average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$181Kas filed
Busiest year
2007464 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Alabama?

Alabama averages about 146 drought records a year since 2000, 8th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2007 (464). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Alabama records 527 drought records since 1996, 8th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Alabama have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Macon County leads Alabama: 72 days with a drought record since 1996, 118.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Macon County has the most drought records (75 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Macon County 118.3 (75)
  2. Lee County 115.2 (73)
  3. Randolph County 113.7 (67)
  4. Chambers County 112.3 (69)
  5. Clay County 101.0 (62)
  6. Elmore County 100.2 (67)
  7. Russell County 98.3 (64)
  8. Coosa County 96.8 (63)
  9. Tallapoosa County 93.5 (70)
  10. Bullock County 93.1 (59)
  11. Cleburne County 92.8 (52)
  12. Montgomery County 87.9 (70)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Alabama?

Alabama's drought records by month. The busiest month is November (317 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 241 · Feb 193 · Mar 160 · Apr 185 · May 185 · Jun 154 · Jul 217 · Aug 223 · Sep 234 · Oct 289 · Nov 317 · Dec 272 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Alabama?

Alabama's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Alabama and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeAlabamaUnited StatesAlabama's share
1996-9985,6000.1%
2000s94818,5715.1%
2010s1,15031,4413.7%
2020-2656430,1471.9%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Alabama

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtCleburne County · forecast zone Cleburne 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtClay County · forecast zone Clay 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtAutauga County · forecast zone Autauga 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtElmore County · forecast zone Elmore 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtTallapoosa County · forecast zone Tallapoosa 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRandolph County · forecast zone Randolph 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtChambers County · forecast zone Chambers 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLowndes County · forecast zone Lowndes 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMontgomery County · forecast zone Montgomery 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMacon County · forecast zone Macon 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLee County · forecast zone Lee 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRussell County · forecast zone Russell 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Alabama

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Alabama for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on July 20, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-07-20EM-3045Drought67

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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