Drought Information Statement for Central Alabama Valid March 19, 2026 Issued By: NWS Birmingham, AL Contact Information: sr-bmx.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated only if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/bmx/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. Drought intensity and Extent D4 Exceptional Drought: None. D3 Extreme Drought: A small area in the southeast. D2 and D1 Severe/Moderate Drought: Mainly in the southeast part of the area. D0 Abnormally Dry: Roughly two-thirds of Central Alabama are considered abnormally dry with a slight reduction over central portions of the area since last week. Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: Western portions of the area with pockets of degradation in the north. No Change and Drought Improvement: About two-thirds of the area experienced no change with pockets of one category improvement in the central and eastern areas. Summary of Impacts Hydrologic Impacts Streamflows are generally running normal to near normal across the northern half of the state and well below normal in the southern half. Agricultural Impacts In January, the USDA designated 19 Alabama counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the drought conditions impacting row-crop yields and forage availability. Several of these primary counties are in central and southeastern portions of Central Alabama with contiguous counties including most of Central Alabama. Fire Hazard Impacts There has been an increased amount of wildfire activity across Central Alabama, all contained as of this issuance. Other Impacts None Drought Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Hydrologic Conditions & Impacts Streamflows are running near normal across Central portions of the state to much and extremely below normal across southern portions of the state. Hydrologic Conditions & Impacts Latest observed river conditions Latest river forecasts Agricultural Impacts Soil Moisture continues a slow decline even as intermittent rainfall occurs. Following periods of rain within the last week, crop moisture has improved across central and northern areas. Fire Hazard Impacts Normal chances for significant wildland fire potential Fire Hazard Impacts The latest Alabama drought declaration map has all of Alabama in either an advisory, watch or warning status. Seven Day Precipitation Forecast Little to no rain is forecast over the next 7 days. This will likely result in drought worsening across the area. Medium Range Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage The seasonal outlook for the next 3 month period is calling for medium chances of above average temperatures. Rainfall probabilities during this same time-frame are calling for low to medium chances of above normal rainfall. If this pattern verifies, it would lend towards persisting drought conditions with a small chance for some drought improvement, particularly south. Drought Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage The latest seasonal outlook released by the CPC and valid through June 30th shows some drought improvement in the southeast with drought persisting in the southwest and small areas in the north. State Drought Declaration National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The latest Alabama Drought declaration released on March 5th has placed much of the southern and eastern counties in a warning with watches throughout the rest of the state.