{"id":522138,"date":"2026-08-20T12:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/extreme-drought-in-puerto-rico-almost-doubles-its-extent-and-stands-at-33-31\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:21:02","slug":"extreme-drought-in-puerto-rico-almost-doubles-its-extent-and-stands-at-33-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/international\/extreme-drought-in-puerto-rico-almost-doubles-its-extent-and-stands-at-33-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme drought in Puerto Rico almost doubles its extent and stands at 33.31%"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Puerto Rico.<\/strong>– The extreme drought in Puerto Rico<\/strong> nearly doubled in extent in just one week and currently affects 33.31% of the territory, according to the update from the United States Drought Monitor published this Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data show a deterioration of conditions in different areas of the island, mainly in the east, south, and southwest. The scenario coincides with low flow levels and water rationing measures in some communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extreme drought category, identified as D3, experienced the greatest change during the last week. It went from covering 17.02% of the Puerto Rican territory to 33.31%, for an increase of 16.29 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advance of extreme drought in Puerto Rico<\/strong> means that nearly a third of the territory is currently within the highest intensity classification recorded on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 82% show some degree of dryness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When considering all classifications, 82.91% of Puerto Rico presents some level of dryness or drought. A week earlier, that proportion stood at 78.27%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the most recent data, 9.52% of the territory is under atypically dry conditions, identified as D0. Another 10.52% is classified under moderate drought or D1, while 29.55% remains in severe drought or D2. Added to those categories is 33.31% corresponding to extreme drought or D3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Drought Monitor also reported the persistence of drought conditions in Puerto Rico and historic minimum levels of flow<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also read: \u201cEl Negro Amante\u201d captured in DR, wanted for a murder in Puerto Rico<\/a><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Municipalities completely under extreme drought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vieques, Culebra, Gu\u00e1nica, Santa Isabel, Humacao, Las Piedras, Juncos, Naguabo, Ceiba, Gurabo, Fajardo, and Luquillo currently have their entire territories classified under extreme drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The D3 category also extends through sectors of Cabo Rojo, Lajas, Yauco, Guayanilla, Pe\u00f1uelas, Ponce, Juana D\u00edaz, Villalba, Coamo, Salinas, Yabucoa, San Lorenzo, Caguas, Trujillo Alto, San Juan, Carolina, and Can\u00f3vanas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of rainfall over the last few months is among the factors that have contributed to the advancement of drought conditions on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severe drought decreases as D3 advances<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The area classified under severe drought or D2 decreased by 7.36 percentage points. This category went from the 36.91% recorded the previous week to 29.55% in the most recent update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that reduction does not necessarily represent a recovery, because some of the areas that were previously under D2 moved to the D3 category, corresponding to extreme drought in Puerto Rico<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severe drought conditions can cause delays in planting operations and lower hay availability. Livestock producers may also need supplemental feed for their animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this classification, signs of stress in trees and other plants may also appear, along with the application of additional measures to conserve water or manage its availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Territory under moderate drought decreases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Moderate drought or D1 also recorded a reduction during the last week. The proportion of the territory under this category fell from 18.25% to 10.52%, equivalent to a decrease of 7.73 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This level of drought can affect crops, increase the need for water conservation, and raise the risk of wildfires. It may also be accompanied by drops in the levels of reservoirs, lakes, rivers, and streams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, areas classified as abnormally dry or D0 increased from 6.09% to 9.52%, a difference of 3.43 percentage points in one week, and this classification may be related to river and stream flows being below usual levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possible effects of extreme drought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The D3 classification can generate consequences for agriculture, livestock, and water supply. Among the possible effects are crop losses, a reduction in available feed for livestock, and a decrease in aquifers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These conditions can also lead to modifications in daily activities, changes in school schedules, interruptions in commercial establishments, and deterioration of water quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weekly update confirms that, despite the percentage reductions observed in the moderate and severe categories, extreme drought in Puerto Rico<\/strong> continues to spread, while more than eight out of every ten parts of the territory remain under some classification of dryness or drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Puerto Rico.– The extreme drought in Puerto Rico nearly doubled in extent in just one week and currently affects 33.31% of the territory, according to the update from the United States Drought Monitor published this Thursday. The data show a deterioration of conditions in different areas of the island, mainly in the east, south, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133543,"featured_media":522139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[671],"class_list":["post-522138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-puerto-rico"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2bPA","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/8009532177001.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Carolina \u00c1lvarez","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-26-at-5.31.57-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["International"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/8009532177001.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133543"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}