drought

Extreme heat wave to hit US - expected temperatures above 48 °C

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The Watchers, 6/29/13, Chillmanjaro

Interior US West will experience heat reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. The developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme levels with record highs. Temperatures will soar above 120 °F (48.8 °C) into early next week. The extreme heat is expected to impact Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Idaho, Rawlins, Medford and Fresno. The worst of the heat will hold up just inland over California.

For more on this story please see The Watchers.com

 

 

 

Colorado Black Forest fire burn scar

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EarthSky.org - 6/29/13

See larger images Image credit: NASA

The June 2013 Black Forest fire was the most destructive in Colorado’s history. The fire charred more than 14,000 acres, killed two people, destroyed 509 homes, and devastated a wooded suburb of Colorado Springs.

This image of the Black Forest fire’s burn scar was acquired by NASA’s Terra satellite on June 21, 2013. Vegetation-covered land is red in the false-color image, which includes both visible and infrared light. Patches of unburned forest are bright red. Unburned grasslands are pink. The darkest gray and black areas are the most severely burned. Buildings, roads, and other developed areas appear light gray and white

For more information please see EarthSky.org

American West Becoming Increasingly Dusty

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National Geographic - 6/12/13, Ker Than

 

 

The American West is becoming an increasingly dusty place: So-called "dust emissions"—including giant dust storms reminiscent of the Dust Bowl era—have increased in the past 17 years, according to a new study.

Scientists understand only some of the reasons for the surge.

"About half of the changes [we see] are due to drought and high-wind events. We're seeing more of these larger storms that can move dust," said Jason Neff, a geological scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a co-author of the study. "The other half [of dust storms we see remains] unexplained, but candidates include off-road vehicle use, oil and gas development, urban and rural development, and grazing."

For more on this story please see NationalGeographic.com

Record heat fuels destructive fires in drought-baked Colorado

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Wunderblog.com - 6/12/13, Dr. Jeff Masters

 

 

Destructive wildfires erupted in three locations in drought-baked Colorado on Tuesday, fanned by strong winds and the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the state so early in the year. The mercury soared to 100°F in Denver on Tuesday, their earliest 100° day on record (previous earliest 100° day: June 14, 2006, 102°.) It was the second consecutive day Denver recorded its hottest temperature for so early in the year. At Lamar in Southeast Colorado, the mercury soared to 111°, just one degree below their hottest temperature ever measured, and 3° shy of the all-time hottest temperature ever measured in Colorado, the 114° reading in Sedgwick on July 11, 1954. The most destructive fire in Colorado Tuesday was the Black Forest fire burning near Colorado Springs. The fire destroyed over 60 buildings and forced the evacuation of several thousand people. The fire was aided by nearly ideal conditions on Tuesday afternoon--Colorado Springs hit 97° (only the 2nd time the city has been that hot this early in the year), with sustained winds of 29 mph gusting to 36 mph, and a humidity of 4%. Colorado Springs is under extreme drought.

West Texas Oilfield Town Has Run Out of Water

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The Texas Tribune, By: Kate Galbraith, 06/07/2013

 

photo by Jennifer Whitney

 

Barnhart, a small community in West Texas, has run out of water. John Nanny, an Irion County commissioner and an official with Barnhart’s water supply corporation, said on Thursday that the situation was serious. When reached by telephone, he was working on pumping operations and hoped to have a backup well in service Friday morning. A load of bottled water was on its way to the community center, he said.

 

The town has one main well that serves 112 customers, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. But the well stopped pumping quickly enough Tuesday evening, and while there is still some water in it, Nanny said, “We don’t want to get down to the mud.”

 

For more on this story www.earthfirstnews.wordpress.com

U.S. Drought Monitor

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Drought.gov - 5/23/13

 

 

The U.S. Drought Monitor is unique, blending numeric measures of drought and experts' best judgment into a single map every week. It started in 1999 as a federal, state, and academic partnership, growing out of a Western Governors' Association initiative to provide timely and understandable scientific information on water supply and drought for policymakers.

The Monitor is produced by a rotating group of authors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Drought Mitigation Center. It incorporates review from a group of 250 climatologists, extension agents, and others across the nation. Each week the author revises the previous map based on rain, snow and other events, observers' reports of how drought is affecting crops, wildlife and other indicators. Authors balance conflicting data and reports to come up with a new map every Wednesday afternoon. It is released the following Thursday morning

 

Lack of rain worries south-east farmers

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Weatherzone, By: Stephanie Watson, 05/10/2013

 

Farmers in south-east NSW say they could have some of the best grass in the state at the moment. But the absence of a solid autumn break still has them worried.

 

Neil Waterson, a beef farmer in the Bega Valley, says all of the markets are flat because of an oversupply of cattle across the country.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

Drought policy lacks detail

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Weatherzone, By: ABC, 05/10/2013

 

The president of the National Farmers Federation says it's time to release the details of new drought support measures. Around 17 per cent of New South Wales is in drought and 65 per cent is experiencing very dry conditions. Parts of Western Australia and Queensland are also in drought and Victoria is waiting for rain.

 

NFF President Duncan Fraser says the states signed off on the federal drought policy last week, but it lacks detail and governments need to be specific about the help on offer soon.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

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