Time Is Running Out to Avert a Third Summer of Drought
Meanwhile, the economic toll of the worst drought to strike the U.S. since at least the 1950s is climbing, and it “will probably end up being a top-five disaster event” among the government’s ranking of all weather disasters over the past three decades, said Brad Rippey, a meteorologist in the Agriculture Department’s Office of the Chief Economist,… Read More
Snowstorm Headed For Heart of Drought Region
According to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, 77 percent of Nebraska is currently classified as experiencing “exceptional” drought conditions, the most severe category there is. In Kansas, that figure is lower, at 36 percent of the state.… Read More
Deadly Georgia Tornado First in a Record 220 Days
The tornadoes were part of a three-day outbreak of severe weather associated with a sprawling storm system that brought spring-like temperatures and humidity to the Midwest and East Coast, along with howling winds on Wednesday night into Thursday. Winds gusted as high as 81 mph in Massachusetts, and topped 60 mph in New York City, where scattered p… Read More
Low Snowfall Raises Concerns About Drought Recovery
The total extent of the persistent national drought receded slightly during the past week, but in many places, conditions look no better now than they did when winter began. In particular, thin snow cover in some Western states is raising concerns that the drought’s impacts in some of the hardest-hit regions will only get worse when temperatures… Read More
Frigid Air Grips Big Part of U.S.; Is There A Tropical Link?
On Tuesday afternoon, the heart of the cold air mass was located over the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, extending eastward into northern New England. In Duluth, the temperature failed to rise above -10°F on Monday, and on Tuesday temperatures were even lower in northern Minnesota, with International Falls reaching -30°F, with a wind chill in t… Read More
USDA Declares Winter Wheat Belt Drought Disaster Area
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared 597 counties across 14 states natural disaster areas as a result of the ongoing drought that threatens the winter wheat crop. These are the first drought-related natural disaster declarations of the year, and mark the second year in a row that such measures were necessary due to the d… Read More
Storm Brings Tornado Outbreak and Blizzard Conditions
A far-reaching storm system tore across the South on Tuesday, causing what is likely to go into the record books as the worst Christmas Day tornado outbreak on record. The storm responsible for the severe weather also spread a swath of snow and ice from Texas to Indiana, and the whole mess of extreme weather is sliding east on Wednesday, with a str… Read More
Drought to Last Into 2013; Impacts Expected to Intensify
After another week of low rainfall and high temperatures in the Midwest and Great Plains, it is all but guaranteed that this year will end with more than half of the area in the lower 48 states still under drought conditions. Now, as the drought is poised to enter 2013, climatologists expect its impacts to worsen as it lasts through the winter. … Read More
