Despite a shrinking snowpack, our drought situation is improving overall, statewide. The Truckee Meadows is not in a drought, or even abnormally dry, but conditions are worse in eastern Nevada and Utah.
According to Dr. Baker Perry, only 1% of Nevada is in a Severe Drought. This includes parts of White Pine and Elko Counties. Just under half the state is either abnormally dry or in a drought. As of January 27th, a little over 19% of Nevada is in a moderate drought. This includes parts of Elko, White Pine, Eureka, Nye, and Lincoln Counties. Washoe is not in a drought at the moment.
Not only is the drought less severe than a month ago, but even more so compared to a year ago. All of the state of Nevada was at least abnormally dry as of July 29th, 2025. Washoe County is currently drought free and not even abnormally dry. None of Nevada is in a severe drought anymore either. With that being said, the drought is worsening for parts of far north central Nevada.
After a dry January, hopefully we will get another storm to move in soon. Much of western Nevada only saw 30% of average precipitation over the past month. Luckily, we’re doing better when you look at the last six months as a whole. We’ve gotten a good amount of rain over the past six months, but we haven’t had much snow.
The Drought Outlook for February shows the drought persisting in parts of eastern Nevada.
