Disaster Analysis 2021

NASS can now monitor agricultural disasters in near real-time and provide quantitative assessments using remotely sensed data and geospatial techniques. This page provides disaster assessments in geospatial data format, reports, and metadata as available. A flood monitoring methodology paper is located here.

Kentucky Tornadoes – December 2021

On December 10-11, 2021, a strong storm moved across the state of Kentucky and spawned several tornadoes which spanned a distance of over 165 miles. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of cropland potentially affected by the Kentucky tornadoes in mid-December 2021. Tornado track location data was provided by the National Weather Service (NWS). Land cover information was derived from the NASS 2021 Cropland Data Layer which was released in February 2022. Analysis was conducted in March 2022.

Files available for download: Kentucky Tornadoes Synopsis | Tornado Map | Tornado Report

Map of Kentucky Tornado (December 2021)

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Kansas Wildfires – December 2021

On Wednesday December 15, 2021, a strong storm system spawned high winds that knocked over several power lines, which in turn sparked several wildfires in central Kansas. Fires continued into Thursday, December 16, 2021 across several counties in Kansas, including Russell, Rooks, Ellis, Osborne, Trego, Rush, Lane, Ness, and Wichita counties. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of cropland and pasture/hay affected by Kansas wildfires occurring in mid-December 2021 in near real-time. Active wildfire perimeter location data was derived from Sentinel-2A and MODIS Aqua optical imagery dated December 18, 2021. Land cover information, including grassland and pasture/hay, was derived from the NASS 2020 Cropland Data Layer and the NASS 2020 Cultivated Layer.

Files available for download: Kansas Wildfires Synopsis | Fire Perimeter Shapefile Zip File | Fire Report

Map of Kansas Wildfires (December 2021)

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Hurricane Ida – August 2021

Hurricane Ida impacted areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, United States from August 29-31, 2021 as a category 4 hurricane. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of flooding from Hurricane Ida over agricultural land in near real-time. The map below identifies the extent of agriculture (2020 USDA NASS Cropland Data Layer) that intersects with wind swath data from the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Additional analysis of the hurricane’s impact on sugarcane was performed for a subset of Louisiana parishes using freely available soil moisture data from Crop-CASMA (Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics) for August 30, 2021. The Louisiana Assessment Report below details the soil moisture descriptions, maps, and tables associated with this event.

Files available for download: Hurricane Ida Synopsis

Additional Louisiana parish analysis: Louisiana Assessment Report

Map of Hurrican Ida (August 2021)

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Western U.S. Drought and Extreme Heat Event (July/August 2021)

The western U.S. is experiencing ongoing extreme heat and drought conditions as of July and August 2021. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the event in five NASS Regions: Northwest, Pacific, Mountain, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest. The report is updated weekly beginning with Week 27 (July 5-11, 2021).

Weekly reports are made available that illustrate the following data:

  1. Temperature and precipitation anomalies for the conterminous U.S. from the first day of the month provided by PRISM Climate Group
  2. Areas impacted by heat stress on a weekly cadence provided by the NASS Climate-based Information System
  3. Cropland sub soil moisture values and anomalies provided by Crop-CASMA (Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics).

The map below illustrates sub soil moisture values from Crop-CASMA at a 9km resolution over cropland areas in California and Nevada (Pacific Region) for Week 35 (August 30-September 5, 2021). This map, along with many other maps, tables, and graphics, are available for download below.

Files available for download:

*Week 35 is the last planned weekly report in this series

Week 35 (August 30-September 5, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 34 (August 23-August 29, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 33 (August 16-August 22, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 32 (August 9-August 15, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 31 (August 2-August 8, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 30 (July 26-August 1, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 29 (July 19-25, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 28 (July 12-18, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Week 27 (July 5-11, 2021): Assessment Report | Synopsis

Map of Pacific Sub (August/September 2021)

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Delta Region Flooding (June 2021)

The Delta Region of the United States experienced severe flooding during early June 2021. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of flooding over agricultural land in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Using freely available soil moisture data from Crop-CASMA (Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics), the weekly (June 7-13, 2021) soil moisture content and anomaly values show higher than normal soil moisture in the region. The percent of cultivated land and specific crops determined by the 2020 NASS Cropland Data Layer in each soil moisture category were calculated. The Delta Region Report below details the soil moisture descriptions, maps, and tables associated with this event. For this event, specific county analysis is also available for a subset of Mississippi counties, which is also included for download below.

Files available for download: Delta Region Synopsis | Delta Region Assessment Report | Mississippi Synopsis | Mississippi Assessment Report

Map of Delta Floods (June 2021)

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Last Modified: 04/08/2024