Earth Watch Report - Extreme Weather - Drought
...
...
| Description |
| The
metro area started the summer with heavy rains wiping out much of the
drought. Now because of the lack of rain since, "severe" drought has
made its way back to parts of the north metro. "The worst of the drought
stretches from the St. Cloud area through the northern Twin Cities
metro right down the Mississippi River through Winona," said
climatologist Pete Boulay. Boulay reported the worsening drought outlook
Thursday. "They're about 4 inches short at the airport. If you live in
Anoka, Washington, Ramsey Counties you're about five inches short of
normal," he said. "If you live down in Winona, they're missing eight
inches of rain." It's turned lush lawns into crunchy fields. The more
brown underneath Frank Rothanburg's shoes, the less green in his
pockets. "There's no work with all the grass being dead. There ain't
nothing to do," said Rothanburg. He estimates his Anoka company, Superb
Lawn Care, has lost $40,000 over the summer. "We've got places we
haven't mowed in three weeks now because they're just so burnt up," he
said. And it's not just rain that's missing. "We've only seen maybe
between 10 or 12 tornados for the year. And that's well below normal,"
said Boulay. And according to Rothanburg, even watering every other day
isn't helping. He is now hoping "Mother Nature" steps in. "Nothing's
helping. We need rain bad," said Rothanburg. |
...
Drought worsens in Midwest, South; affects crops
By DAVID PITT / Associated Press / September 12, 2013
DES
MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The combination of heat and scarce amounts of rain
intensified the drought in several agriculturally significant states,
contributing to declining crop conditions in parts of the Midwest and
South.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a
separate report Thursday the expected record corn harvest and
third-largest soybean crop are on track, since areas that aren’t seeing
as severe a drought will produce enough to make up for the driest
regions.
Crops in states such as Kentucky and Tennessee look
better than they did a month ago, the USDA said, while Iowa and Missouri
are suffering from the heat.
‘‘The fringes of the corn belt are
producing enough to offset Iowa’s loss,’’ said Chad Hart, agriculture
economist at Iowa State University.
This week’s national drought
monitor, which tracked conditions from Sept. 3 to Tuesday, shows nearly
50.7 percent of the contiguous United States is now in moderate drought
or worse, up from just over 50 percent the week before.
The report
said in Iowa, the nation’s largest corn producer, severe drought spread
to nearly 42 percent of the state — up from 32 percent a week ago. All
but two of the state’s counties, both in east-central Iowa, are
experiencing some level of drought or abnormally dry conditions.
Read More Here
...
More than half of USA in a drought
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY 6:05 p.m. EDT September 12, 2013
Drought is at its largest percentage since April.
Drought
covers more than half of the country and is at its largest percentage
since early April, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor, a
weekly federal website.
As of Tuesday, 50.7% of the contiguous USA is in a drought.
Hot,
dry weather over the past week led to worsening drought in the central
USA: In the Midwest, where temperatures have been as much as 10 degrees
above normal over the past week, drought expanded in parts of Missouri,
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the
monitor.
For example, since July 1, La Crosse, Wis., has received
only 2.4 inches of rain, the driest July 1-Sept. 10 period on record for
that location.
Read More Here
...
BPEarthWatch
