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More than sixty percent of the United States is experiencing drought conditions

242 points by littlexsparkee

by doodlebugging

3 subcomments

I read this article. Thanks for that link. I think it odd that they are focusing on drought conditions due to the La Nina conditions we have experienced when we are ramping up now for what has been described as a super El Nino. For much of the areas affected by the drought conditions, there will be an overabundance of precipitation by late summer into next spring.
The article mentions the potential for a super El Nino at the very end but doesn't discuss the effect it could have on content in the map should it go down as modeled. I suspect that a lot of yellows and red will disappear or shift to the north.
I know that the last super El Nino in 2015-2016 followed similar drought conditions due to La Nina such that rainfall at my property, which is normally ~36" (91.4 cm) annually (that's a 20 year average taken here on my property) was below average for the period 2010-2014 by 3-5" (7.62-12.7 cm) and up to 10" (25.4 cm) in 2014. Once La Nina faded it began to rain in August and rained out through December and we ended the year with 68" (172.7 cm) rainfall. In the decades that I have lived here and tracked rainfall that is the wettest year by more than 14" (35.6 cm).
We are currently behind the curve here but I have faith in their predictions since it also comes with a promise of ridiculously hot temperatures to make the last months of the year humid well past normal. It has been cooler than normal so far and drier than normal (La Nina hanging on by a thread). The script will flip and N Texas will again be a miserable place to be if you work outside.

by monster_truck

5 subcomments

Some odd comments on this. It's not a matter of debate, wheat futures reflect this.

by didgetmaster

2 subcomments

I occasionally check out the map on the drought monitor website. The current map does not look significantly different than maps I have seen over the past 10 years.
The areas of extreme drought may change each year, but the total area affected seems rather ordinary to me.

by sethammons

1 subcomments

I predict that we will acknowledge that tree loss and city sprawl are significant drivers of drought and there will be a massive "plant trees" campaign someday.
Agriculture and city replacing trees wiped out the Mayans: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2012/08/20/forest-razing-b...
Tree loss being a 60% contributing factor to the Mayan case. When the Mayans ran out of water, their civilization collapsed, and their technology and advanced astronomical science faded from memory.
We are speed running toward the same peril in modern times.

by helterskelter

2 subcomments

In some places not strictly in drought the water cycle is still completely messed up. A few huge winter storms make up for lack of precipitation in the rest of the year and then promptly melts off. So the yearly average looks good on paper but it's dry as hell in summer/fire season with no snowmelt throughout the year.

by coolfox

0 subcomment

computah, build 200 more data centers

by Surac

0 subcomment

So that‘s „making Amerika dry again“ trump is promising?

by ChrisArchitect

0 subcomment

Related:
USDA Projects Smallest US Wheat Harvest Since 1972 Due to Plains Drought
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48134993

by analog8374

0 subcomment

Dry here (southern IL). 12 years ago spring would be cool, drizzly, cloudy. Now (past 3 years) it's warm, dry, sunny. Periodically we get this big wind that lasts for a couple days.

0 subcomment

by postsantum

3 subcomments

I hope people will not buy into that weird conspiracy theory about the destroyed weather radars in Iraq and its consequences

by lofaszvanitt

0 subcomment

"Drill, baby, drill"

by ericpauley

0 subcomment

Title is somewhat incorrect: more than 60% of the U.S. is facing drought, making it overall the worst in decades. The data do not show that the drought in each area is the worst in decades.

by ashoeafoot

0 subcomment

[dead]

by krackers

1 subcomments

[flagged]

by juliusceasar

0 subcomment

Soon USA will bring democracy in exchange for water.

by hyperrail

4 subcomments

The drought map used here is partly subjective opinion.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/About/WhatistheUSDM.aspx
> Who draws the map?
> Meteorologists and climatologists from the NDMC, NOAA and USDA take turns as the lead author of the map, usually two weeks a time. The author’s job is to do something that a computer can’t. When the data is pointing in different directions, they make sense out of it.
> How do we know when we're in a drought?
> No single piece of evidence tells the full story, and neither do strictly physical indicators. That’s why the USDM isn’t a statistical model

by djoldman

3 subcomments

Just a reminder from January: "California completely drought-free for 1st time in 25 years after winter storms"
https://abc7.com/post/california-has-zero-areas-dryness-firs...