A “flash drought.”
“During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, approximately 80 percent of the U.S. was in a moderate to extreme drought, and during 2012, at the drought peak, about 65 percent of the U.S. was in moderate to extreme drought, according to Brian Fuchs, climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska.” [AgProfessional.com]