# US Drought Monitor Scraper — Weekly Drought Severity Data (`compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper`) Actor Extract weekly US Drought Monitor (USDM) drought severity statistics by county or state. Filter by area, date range, and minimum drought category (D0-D4). Returns percent-area coverage for every severity level plus the worst active category. - **URL**: https://apify.com/compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Compute Edge](https://apify.com/compute-edge) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## US Drought Monitor Scraper — Weekly Drought Severity Data Extract weekly **US Drought Monitor (USDM)** drought severity statistics straight from the official USDM data services API maintained by the National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, and NOAA. The Drought Monitor is **the** authoritative weekly drought map of the United States — it triggers federal disaster designations, crop insurance decisions, and water restrictions. This Actor returns the **percent of area in each drought category (D0–D4)** for any county or state, for any date range back to 2000 — over 25 years of weekly history across 3,100+ counties. ### Features - **County or state aggregation** - **Any date range since 2000** — absolute dates or rolling "weeks back" window - **Severity filter** — only return weeks where drought reached a chosen category - **Computed `worstCategory` field** — instantly see the most severe active drought level - **Clean, flat JSON output** ready for dashboards, models, or RAG pipelines ### Output fields | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `mapDate` | USDM map release date (weekly) | | `validStart` / `validEnd` | Week the statistics cover | | `fips` | County FIPS code (county level) | | `county`, `state` | Geography names | | `percentNone` | % of area with no drought | | `percentD0Abnormal` | % abnormally dry or worse | | `percentD1Moderate` | % moderate drought or worse | | `percentD2Severe` | % severe drought or worse | | `percentD3Extreme` | % extreme drought or worse | | `percentD4Exceptional` | % exceptional drought | | `worstCategory` | Highest category with non-zero coverage (D0–D4) | ### How to scrape US Drought Monitor data 1. Choose **Aggregation Level** (county or state) 2. Set **Area of Interest** — a state code like `TX`, `conus` for the lower 48, or a county FIPS 3. Pick a **date range** (or a rolling `weeksBack` window) 4. Optionally set **Minimum Drought Category** to only capture actual drought weeks 5. Click **Start** ### Input example ```json { "level": "county", "aoi": "CA", "weeksBack": 52, "minDroughtCategory": 2 } ```` ### Output example ```json { "mapDate": "2024-01-02T00:00:00", "fips": "48001", "county": "Anderson County", "state": "TX", "percentNone": 1.27, "percentD0Abnormal": 98.73, "percentD1Moderate": 66.22, "percentD2Severe": 5.11, "percentD3Extreme": 0, "percentD4Exceptional": 0, "worstCategory": "D2" } ``` ### Who uses this data? - **Agricultural lenders and crop insurers** pricing drought risk by county - **Commodity traders** tracking drought stress in growing regions - **Water utilities and municipalities** monitoring supply risk - **ESG and climate-risk analysts** building physical-risk models ### Pricing Pay-per-result. One state-year of county data is roughly 13,000 records; a single API request, no browser, minimal compute. ### FAQ **How often is the data updated?** The USDM releases a new map every Thursday. **What do D0–D4 mean?** D0 = abnormally dry, D1 = moderate, D2 = severe, D3 = extreme, D4 = exceptional drought. ### Legal disclaimer This Actor extracts publicly available US government data published by the National Drought Mitigation Center. You are responsible for ensuring your use of the data complies with applicable laws. # Actor input Schema ## `level` (type: `string`): Return statistics per county or per state. ## `aoi` (type: `string`): Two-letter state abbreviation (e.g. 'TX', 'CA'), 'us' for the whole country (state level), 'conus' for the contiguous US, or a 5-digit county FIPS code. ## `startDate` (type: `string`): Start of the date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave blank to use 'Weeks Back' relative to the end date. USDM data goes back to 2000. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): End of the date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave blank for today. ## `weeksBack` (type: `integer`): If no start date is given, fetch this many weeks before the end date. ## `minDroughtCategory` (type: `integer`): Only include records where at least some area is in this drought category or worse. 0 = include all records, 1 = D0+ (abnormally dry), 2 = D1+ (moderate), 3 = D2+ (severe), 4 = D3+ (extreme), 5 = D4 (exceptional). ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of weekly records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited. ## Actor input object example ```json { "level": "county", "aoi": "TX", "startDate": "", "endDate": "", "weeksBack": 8, "minDroughtCategory": 0, "maxResults": 1000 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=compute-edge/usdm-drought-monitor-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "US Drought Monitor Scraper — Weekly Drought Severity Data", "description": "Extract weekly US Drought Monitor (USDM) drought severity statistics by county or state. Filter by area, date range, and minimum drought category (D0-D4). Returns percent-area coverage for every severity level plus the worst active category.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "Xunu303JnINDicmjS" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/compute-edge~usdm-drought-monitor-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-compute-edge-usdm-drought-monitor-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/compute-edge~usdm-drought-monitor-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-compute-edge-usdm-drought-monitor-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/compute-edge~usdm-drought-monitor-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-compute-edge-usdm-drought-monitor-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "level": { "title": "Aggregation Level", "enum": [ "county", "state" ], "type": "string", "description": "Return statistics per county or per state.", "default": "county" }, "aoi": { "title": "Area of Interest", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter state abbreviation (e.g. 'TX', 'CA'), 'us' for the whole country (state level), 'conus' for the contiguous US, or a 5-digit county FIPS code.", "default": "TX" }, "startDate": { "title": "Start Date", "type": "string", "description": "Start of the date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave blank to use 'Weeks Back' relative to the end date. USDM data goes back to 2000.", "default": "" }, "endDate": { "title": "End Date", "type": "string", "description": "End of the date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave blank for today.", "default": "" }, "weeksBack": { "title": "Weeks Back", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 1400, "type": "integer", "description": "If no start date is given, fetch this many weeks before the end date.", "default": 8 }, "minDroughtCategory": { "title": "Minimum Drought Category", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 5, "type": "integer", "description": "Only include records where at least some area is in this drought category or worse. 0 = include all records, 1 = D0+ (abnormally dry), 2 = D1+ (moderate), 3 = D2+ (severe), 4 = D3+ (extreme), 5 = D4 (exceptional).", "default": 0 }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 100000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of weekly records to return. Set to 0 for unlimited.", "default": 1000 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```