Extreme Weather Events Destroy Crops in Ten States and Puerto Rico

Drought and deluge kill crops in 294 U.S. counties and municipalities

USDA declares crop disasters in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon and Puerto Rico.

Crop Disaster Areas Designation # 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated all but one of the counties [Lake County] in the State of Illinois as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred during the period of June 1, 2015, and continues.

Illinois: Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, DeWitt, Douglas, DuPage, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Gallatin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Lawrence, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, St. Clair, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby,  Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, Winnebago and Woodford counties.

Indiana: Benton, Knox, Newton, Sullivan, Vigo, Gibson, Lake, Posey, Vermillion and Warren counties.

Iowa: Clinton, Jackson, Louisa, Scott, Des Moines, Lee and Muscatine counties.

Kentucky: Ballard, Crittenden, Livingston, McCracken and Union counties.

Missouri: Cape Girardeau, Marion, Saint Charles, Clark, Mississippi, Sainte Genevieve, Jefferson, Perry, Saint Louis, Lewis, Pike, Saint Louis City, Lincoln, Ralls and Scott counties.

Crop Disaster Areas Designation # 2

USDA has designated a total of 88 counties in Indiana as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred during the period of May 1, 2015, and continues.

Indiana: Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, DeKalb, Delaware, Dubois, Elkhart, Fayette, Floyd, Fountain, Franklin, Fulton, Gibson, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jasper, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Noble, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Parke, Pike, Porter, Posey, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, St. Joseph, Scott, Shelby, Starke, Sullivan, Switzerland, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, Warrick, Washington, Wayne, Wells, White and Whitley counties.

Illinois: Clark, Crawford, Iroquois, Lawrence, White, Cook, Edgar, Kankakee, Wabash and Will counties.

Kentucky: Boone, Carroll, Gallatin and Trimble counties.

Michigan: Berrien and Cass counties.

Ohio: Butler, Defiance, Mercer, Preble, Darke, Hamilton, Paulding and Van Wert counties.

Crop Disaster Areas Designation # 3

USDA has designated a total of eight counties in Idaho and Montana as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought.

Idaho: Butte, Clark, Custer, Idaho, Lemhi and Valley counties.

Montana: Beaverhead and Ravalli counties.

Crop Disaster Areas Designation # 4

USDA has designated ten counties in Oregon as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought.

Oregon: Clackamas, Hood River, Jefferson, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Wasco, Washington and Yamhill counties.

Crop Disaster Areas Designation # 5

USDA has designated 28 municipalities in Puerto Rico as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought.

Puerto Rico: Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Arroyo, Barranquitas, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Cayey, Ceiba, Cidra, Fajardo, Guayama, Gurabo, Humacao, Juncos, Patillas, Comerio, Las Piedras, Loiza, Rio Grande, Luquillo, Maunabo, Naguabo, Salinas, San Juan, San Lorenzo,Trujillo Alto and Yabucoa municipalities.

****************** U.S. Drought Monitor *****************

Week	None	D0-D4	D1-D4	D2-D4	D3-D4	D4
2015-08-11	51.65	48.35	27.52	14.97	7.69	2.51
2015-08-04	52.97	47.03	26.02	14.62	7.37	2.36

************* Total US Weekly Comparison Stats  *************

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 1,986 counties, or county equivalents, across 32 States: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

USDA has also designated a total of 36 municipalities in Puerto Rico as drought disaster areas in the last two weeks.

About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations are due to drought so far this year.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

v. The disaster designations posted above were approved by USDA on August 12, 2015.

Related Links

• Drought destroys crops in 5 states and Puerto Rico August 6, 2015
• Extreme Weather Events Destroy Crops in 10 States July 30, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in Six States July 23, 2015
• Drought Destroys Crops in Florida, Idaho , Montana, Utah, Washington & Puerto Rico July 16, 2015
• U.S. Drought: Crop Disaster Declared for Idaho Counties July 10, 2015
• Drought Destroys Crops in Six U.S. States July 2, 2015
• Drought and Deluge, Hail and Severe Freezing Destroy Crops in 7 States June 25, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Exceptional Drought Grows in California

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
RISING TEMPERATURES
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT
CROP DISASTERS
DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRES
MULTIPLE STATES OF EMERGENCY
MAIN SCENARIOS 900, 800, 555, 444, 123, 111, 101, 100, 033, 011, 08, 04, 03, 02
.

Golden State Turns Dark Brown

Exceptional Drought spreads to 58.41 percent of California, up from 36.49 percent last week, according to the latest data release by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The entire land area in the Golden State is experiencing ‘Severe’ to Exceptional drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor.

Source: US Drought Monitor, data released July 31, 2014.

National Drought Summary for July 29, 2014: State of California

Increasingly, drought indicators point to the fact that conditions are not appreciably better in northern California than in central and southern sections of the state. In addition, mounting evidence from reservoir levels, river gauges, ground water observations, and socio-economic impacts warrant a further expansion of exceptional drought (D4) into northern California. For California’s 154 intrastate reservoirs, storage at the end of June stood at 60% of the historical average. Although this is not a record for this time of year—the standard remains 41% of average on June 30, 1977—storage has fallen to 17.3 million acre-feet. As a result, California is short more than one year’s worth of reservoir water, or 11.6 million acre-feet, for this time of year. The historical average warm-season drawdown of California’s 154 reservoirs totals 8.2 million acre-feet, but usage during the first 2 years of the drought, in 2012 and 2013, averaged 11.5 million acre-feet.

Given the 3-year duration of the drought, California’s topsoil moisture (80% very short to short) and subsoil moisture (85%) reserves are nearly depleted. The state’s rangeland and pastures were rated 70% very poor to poor on July 27. USDA reported that “range and non-irrigated pasture conditions continued to deteriorate” and that “supplemental feeding of hay and nutrients continued as range quality declined.” In recent days, new wildfires have collectively charred several thousand acres of vegetation in northern and central California. The destructive Sand fire, north of Plymouth, California—now largely contained—burned more than 4,000 acres and consumed 66 structures, including 19 residences. [ U.S. Drought Monitor]

California experiences record warmest winter and spring

Meanwhile, the most populous U.S. state saw its warmest winter and spring on record this year, with the temperatures rising 2.8ºC (5 degrees Fahrenheit)  above normal during the first six months of 2014,  about 0.6ºC (1 degree F) warmer than the previous record, increasing the threat of water famine, crop disasters and wildfires even further.

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty – with the critical phase occurring by as early as 2011.

[NOTE: The above forecast and most of the links posted below have previously been filtered/censored by Google, WordPress and rest of the Internet Mafia. Editor]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied! January 30, 2009

California State Resources

• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

California Drought Disasters

• Extreme Drought Spreads in California July 25, 2014
• Drought Spells More Crop Disasters for Five States May 22, 2014
• Southern Sierra Loses Snow Cover May 27, 2014
• California’s Snow Story: Going, Going … May 21, 2014
• Severe – Exceptional Drought Plague 100% of California  May 16, 2014

U.S. Drought Conditions Continue to Worsen

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
WORSENING DROUGHT
CROP DISASTERS
.

Drought spreads to nearly 52 percent of Contiguous US

Drought conditions D0 (Abnormally Dry) to D4 (Exceptional Drought) cover 51.95 percent of land area in the U.S., up more than 0.5 percent since last week, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Drought Monitor

US Drought Conditions D0 – D4

• West:  71.88% (up from 71.51% last week)
• South: 66.29% (up from 65.34%; D3 and D4 conditions rapidly expanding)
• High Plains: 47.65% (from 46.94%;  D1, D2 and D3 spreading)
• Midwest: 35.15%  (D1 condition spreading)
• Southeast: 6.02% (from 5.07%; D1 spreading from 0.0 to 0.61%)
• Northeast: 3.95% (unchanged)
• Contiguous US: 51.95% (from 51.47%)

Weekly Drought Map for the Contiguous United States. Sourced from US Drought Monitor. Map Enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.

Crop Disasters Caused by Drought

Since January 10, 2014, at least 864 counties across 16 states have been declared as crop disaster areas by USDA due to worsening drought.

• Those states are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Utah.

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The total number of counties designated as agricultural disaster areas includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. A number of counties may have been designated crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

v. The latest disaster designations were issued by USDA for a total of 59 counties in five states—Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and Arizona—on March 26, 2014.

Related Links

• California Drought Continues to Intensify March 20, 2014
• Crop Disasters Declared for Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho March 21, 2014
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Change

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT
CROP DISASTERS
.

Severe, Extreme and Exceptional Drought Levels Marginally Spread across Contiguous U.S.

Severe, Extreme and Exceptional Drought levels (D2 – D4) covered 21.71 percent of contiguous U.S. this week, an increase  of about 0.15 percent (0.13 percent of the U.S.) compared with last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Abnormally Dry conditions and Moderate Drought receded by about 1.38 percent in the contiguous U.S. (0.74 percent in the U.S.), compared with last week.

The following map shows the weekly change in drought levels (classes) across the U.S.

U.S. Drought Monitor Class Change. Source: The National Drought Mitigation Center

Crop Disasters

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared crop disasters for 15 additional counties in Texas and New Mexico, due to the worsening drought.

Related Links: 2014 Agriculture Disaster Declarations

• Crop Disasters Declared for Texas, New Mexico March 13, 2014
• Crop Disasters Declared in 12 States on March 7, 2014
• Crop Disaster Declared in Three States February 27, 2014
• Crop Disaster Declared in 3 States February 14, 2014
• Crop Disaster Declared For 8 States Due to Extreme Weather  February 7, 2014
• UPDATE: Drought Causes Crop Disaster in 25 Counties across 4 States February 6, 2014
• California Drought Worsens February 6, 2014
• California Drought Could Paralyze the U.S.  February 2, 2014
• California Drops State Water Allocation to Zero  February 1, 2014
• California Drought Intensifies January 30, 2014
• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014
• Crop Disaster Declared in 40 Counties due to Drought January 16, 2014
• Crop Disasters Declared in 6 States January 10, 2014

Related Links

• Drought 2013
• Agricultural Disasters Index

EXTREME and EXCEPTIONAL Drought Conditions Spread in California

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENT
STATE OF EMERGENCY IN CALIFORNIA
EXTREME & EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT INTENSIFY
WATER FAMINE
.

Drought conditions cover the entire Golden State

Extreme and Exceptional Drought conditions spread to 68.3 percent of California. The rest is covered by other drought levels, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

California Drought Comparison Map: February 11 – February 18, 2014. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor.

State of Emergency

Governor Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency on January 27  amid the worsening statewide drought.  He called the “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

57 California Counties Declared Crop Disaster Areas

All but one of the 58 counties in the state of California have been declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Extreme Drought conditions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 57 counties in the state of California as crop disaster areas due to the worsening drought, since the beginning of the year.

California State Resources

• Electronic snowpack readings –  http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action
• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

Related Links

• California Drought Could Worsen Water Contamination February 19, 2014
• California Drought Worsens February 6, 2014
• COLLAPSE OF CALIFORNIA LOOMS February 2, 2014
• California Drought Could Paralyze the U.S.  February 2, 2014
• California Drops State Water Allocation to Zero  February 1, 2014
• California Drought Intensifies January 30, 2014
• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty

[NOTE: The above forecast and most of the links posted below have previously been filtered by Google, WordPress and others. Editor ]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied!
• Can’t have your water and eat the fish, too!
• Alaska: One Fire Away From Exporting Charcoal
• Calif Drought: Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency
• Images of the Day: California Drought & Folsom Lake
• Desertification
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
• Land degradation threatens 1.5 billion people
• Topsoil
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties
• Drought
• A Few Extreme Events Away
• Image of the Day: Southern Spain
• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties

California Drops State Water Allocation to Zero

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT DISASTER
STATE OF EMERGENCY
WATER FAMINE
.

Severe Drought Prompts Worst-Ever Water Supply Forecast for California

“Simply put, there’s not enough water in the system right now for customers to expect any water this season from the project,” said the director of California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

DWR is securing what little water remains in the state’s reservoirs in response to the worsening drought and strong likelihood of more severe water shortages in the coming months.

The agency announced Friday that they took actions to conserve the state’s dwindling resources, as a result of which, “everyone—farmers, fish, and people in our cities and towns —will get less water.”

“This historic announcement reflects the severity of California’s drought. After two previous dry years, 2014 is shaping up as the driest in state history,” said DWR.

• On Thursday, Sierra snow survey found the snowpack’s statewide water content was only 12 percent of average for this time of year.

• Water levels in key reservoirs now are lower than at this time in 1977, one of the two previous driest water years on record.
  • Lake Oroville in Butte County, the principal SWP reservoir, is at 36 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity (55 percent of its historical average for the date).
  • Shasta Lake north of Redding, California’s and the federal Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir, is also at 36 percent of its 4.5 million acre-foot capacity (54 percent of average for the date).
  • San Luis Reservoir, a critical south-of-Delta reservoir for both the SWP and CVP, is just 30 percent of its 2 million acre-foot capacity (39 percent of average for the date).

California Current Reservoir Conditions. Source: DWR

• Electronic snowpack readings –  http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action
• Electronic reservoir readings – http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action
• Water Conditions – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/
• California Drought Page – http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/drought/

Zero Allocation

DWR has never before announced a zero allocation in the 54-year history of the State Water Project to all 29 public water agencies that buy from the SWP. These deliveries help supply water to 25 million Californians and roughly 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

The agency forecast in late December that it would be able to deliver only 5 percent of about 4 million acre-feet of State Water Project water requested by the 29 public water agencies that purchase water from the project. They are located in Northern California, the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California.

The 5 percent projected allocation has now reduced to zero.

Statewide Average Precipitation – by water year. Source DWR.

Precipitation Rankings by Climate Region: January – December 2013. Source: DWR

California is currently experiencing its worst drought on record. In 2013 California experienced its driest year since records began 120 years ago.

• Many California reservoirs are at their lowest levels in years.
• The snow cover is less than 20 percent of the normal at this time of year.
• Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir is holding just over a third of its full capacity,  down from the normal of more than a half at this time of year, according to officials.

‘Extreme’ and ‘Exceptional Drought’ levels are plaguing California, threatening at least 17 communities with water famine.

Gov. Brown Declared Drought State of Emergency earlier this month amid worst dry conditions in 119 years

Brown had earlier described the drought as being “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

California Drought Map. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

California Drought Conditions

“Drought and relatively mild temperatures continue to prevail across the state. In the northwestern part of California, a 1-category degradation from severe to extreme drought (D2 to D3) was made across Humboldt and Trinity Counties. The Central Sierra Snow Lab near the Donner Summit reports 8 inches of snow on the ground, the lowest for this time in January since at least 1946. In the general vicinity of Monterey to Bakersfield, conditions warranted a 1-category downgrade, from extreme to exceptional drought (D3 to D4). A few of the impacts within the D4 area include fallowing of land, wells running dry, municipalities considering drilling deeper wells, and little to no rangeland grasses for cattle to graze on, prompting significant livestock sell off.” —US Drought Monitor

Drought Comparison Table

California Drought Comparison Table (Percent Area). Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Related Links

• California Drought Intensifies January 30, 2014

• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty

[NOTE: Most of the links posted below have previously been filtered by Google, WordPress and others. Editor ]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied!
• Can’t have your water and eat the fish, too!
• Alaska: One Fire Away From Exporting Charcoal
• Calif Drought: Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency
• Images of the Day: California Drought & Folsom Lake
• Desertification
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
• Land degradation threatens 1.5 billion people
• Topsoil
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties
• Drought
• A Few Extreme Events Away
• Image of the Day: Southern Spain
• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties

California Drought Intensifies

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT DISASTER
STATE OF EMERGENCY
.

Worsening Drought in California Prompts Significant Livestock Sell Off 

California is currently experiencing its worst drought on record. In 2013 California experienced its driest year since records began 120 years ago.

• Many California reservoirs are at their lowest levels in years.
• The snow cover is less than 20 percent of the normal at this time of year.
• Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir is holding just over a third of its full capacity,  down from the normal of more than a half at this time of year, according to officials.

‘Extreme’ and ‘Exceptional Drought’ levels are plaguing California, threatening at least 17 communities with water famine.

Gov. Brown Declared Drought State of Emergency earlier this month amid worst dry conditions in 119 years

Brown had earlier described the drought as being “really serious,” adding that 2014 could be California’s third consecutive dry year. “In many ways it’s a mega-drought.”

California Drought Map. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

California Drought Conditions

“Drought and relatively mild temperatures continue to prevail across the state. In the northwestern part of California, a 1-category degradation from severe to extreme drought (D2 to D3) was made across Humboldt and Trinity Counties. The Central Sierra Snow Lab near the Donner Summit reports 8 inches of snow on the ground, the lowest for this time in January since at least 1946. In the general vicinity of Monterey to Bakersfield, conditions warranted a 1-category downgrade, from extreme to exceptional drought (D3 to D4). A few of the impacts within the D4 area include fallowing of land, wells running dry, municipalities considering drilling deeper wells, and little to no rangeland grasses for cattle to graze on, prompting significant livestock sell off.” —US Drought Monitor

Drought Comparison Table

California Drought Comparison Table (Percent Area). Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Summary of Drought Impact (Weekly)

• Aquifer at Risk: Water usage rules likely – Palm Springs Desert Sun (CA)

• The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has urged its customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent

• At least 17 California water systems with 60 to 120 days’ worth of water left

• The Pajarito Mountain Ski Area near Los Alamos, New Mexico closed due to lack of snow

• Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma urged all citizens to conserve water

• Feds could seize San Luis Reservoir water belonging to San Joaquin Valley farmers in California affecting Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties

• Cachuma Lake, a crystalline mountain resource, is vanishing

• Wheat not fully emerged in Hardeman County, Texas

• Farmers in Dawson County, Texas were not hopeful about the upcoming growing season

• Dry windy weather in much of Texas has stressed winter forages

• The Marin Municipal Water District in California urged its customers to begin voluntarily trimming their water use by 25 percent

• Zone 7 Water Agency in Alameda County, California urged 20 percent water conservation

• The Alameda County Water District in California urged customers to voluntarily cut their water use by 20 percent

• The Santa Clara Valley Water District planned to vote on whether to adopt additional water conservation measures

• Many California ranchers selling livestock

• Los Angeles, California, dormant vegetation leading to brush fires

• California almonds slightly smaller in 2013

• Voluntary water restrictions urged in Elk Grove, California

[Source: US Drought Monitor]

Related Links

• California Communities Could Run Out of Water in 60 to 120 Days January 29, 2014
• Drought Disaster Declared for Multiple Counties in Four States January 25, 2014
• California Declares Drought State of Emergency January 18, 2014
• California Governor to Declare Drought Emergency January 17, 2014
• High Fire Danger in Southern California amid Driest Conditions on Record January 17, 2014
• 520 Counties across 16 States Declared Crop Disaster Areas due to Drought January 16, 2014

FIRE-EARTH 2009 Forecast: Desertification of California in the Near Future Is Almost a Certainty

[NOTE: Most of the links posted below have previously been filtered by Google, WordPress and others. Editor ]

• California: Biggest Desert in N America August 16, 2009
• Warning: California Is Being Mojavefied!
• Can’t have your water and eat the fish, too!
• Alaska: One Fire Away From Exporting Charcoal
• Calif Drought: Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency
• Images of the Day: California Drought & Folsom Lake

• Desertification
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
• Land degradation threatens 1.5 billion people
• Topsoil
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties
• Drought
• A Few Extreme Events Away
• Image of the Day: Southern Spain
• Schwarzenegger Proclaims Water Emergency in Nine Counties

U.S. Drought Eases

Drought conditions improve slightly; near- to above-normal temps to persist nationwide

In the short term, temperatures are expected to rise  10 to 15 degrees above average from the Upper Great Lakes to part of the Middle Mississippi Valley; in contrast, temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below average from the Northern/Central High Plains to the Great Basin/Central Rockies, said NWS.

As of September 25, 2013, at least 1,345 counties and parishes, or 42.8% of all the U.S. counties and county equivalents, across 29 states remained agricultural disaster areas due to the drought, said USDA.

US Drought Map as of September 24, released by US Drought Monitor on September 26, 2013.

The Midwest: “By September 22, topsoil moisture was still rated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at least half very short to short in Iowa (77%), Missouri (69%), Illinois (66%), South Dakota (62%), Nebraska (61%), and Wisconsin (55%).  On the same date, USDA rated at least half of the pastures in very poor to poor condition in Iowa (62%) and Wisconsin (58%).  And, more than one-quarter of the corn and soybeans were rated very poor to poor in Wisconsin (29 and 29%, respectively), Missouri (27 and 33%), and Iowa (27 and 29%).” U.S. Drought Monitor reported.

The Great Plains: “Despite all of the rain, rangeland and pastures across some parts of the Great Plains continued to suffer from the cumulative effects of multiple drought years.  On September 22, rangeland and pastures were rated at least one-third very poor to poor several states, including Texas (54%), Colorado (43%), Nebraska (40%), and Kansas (36%).”

The Lower Mississippi Valley:  “… topsoil moisture was still rated 41% very short to short in Arkansas and Louisiana, although those numbers represented a significant improvement from the previous week’s figures of 78 and 52%, respectively.”

The West: “No changes in the drought depiction were yet introduced in the Northwest, but the region will be monitored as precipitation continues to spread inland.”

Hawaii and Alaska: “From September 1-24, Hilo’s rainfall totaled just 2.17 inches (28% of normal).  Near the southern tip of the Big Island, very poor pasture conditions led to degradation from severe to extreme drought (D2 to D3). […] Fairbanks reported its first autumn freeze (29°F) on September 15, followed 3 days later by its first measurable snowfall (0.6 inch).  Meanwhile, heavy precipitation fell in non-drought areas of southeastern Alaska, where Ketchikan netted 12.22 inches of rain from September 15-23.”

Related Links

• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Expands by 2 Percent

Lake Altus-Lugert drops to a historic low level of 12.6 percent of capacity: US Drought Monitor 

As of September 10, 2013  about 63.75 percent of land area in the contiguous U.S. was covered by D0-D4 drought conditions, up from 61.71 percent last week, while more than half of the country was in moderate drought condition or worse, with about a third experiencing severe, exceptional or extreme drought levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

US Drought Map as of September 10, released by US Drought Monitor on  September 12, 2013.

2013 Drought Disaster Areas

As of September 11, 2013 at least 1,338 counties and parishes, or 42.41% of all U.S. counties and county equivalents, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought.

[Note: The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster areas.]

Drought Summary — Selected Regions — September 10, 2013

[Source: Mirrored from U.S. Drought Monitor with some editing]

• The Northeast: Continuing dry conditions prompted the introduction of abnormal dryness (D0) across central Maryland, southwestern Connecticut, and Long Island, N.Y., this week. According to AHPS, these areas have significant precipitation deficits at 180-, 90-, 60-, 30-, and 14 days. Streams and rivers are also running low, especially in central Maryland.

• The Midwest: Most of the Midwest remained dry this past week… Positive temperature departures of 4-8 degrees F were common throughout the region, with +10 degree F anomalies over portions of Iowa and southern Minnesota … widespread 1-category downgrades were made to the drought depiction across northern and southwestern Missouri, southern, central and eastern Iowa, parts of northern Illinois, northeastern and central Indiana, and central and southern portions of both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

• The Lower Mississippi Valley: Lack of rain during the past 7-days, temperatures 2-6 degrees above normal, and stream flow values in the lowest quartile of their historical distributions prompted 1-category degradations to the depiction across northern and western Louisiana, central and southern Arkansas, and northern and central Mississippi.

• Central and Northern Great Plains: One-category downgrades were warranted across southeastern Nebraska … In Kansas, the area of abnormal dryness (D0) in the northeast was expanded, and D0 conditions were added to southeast parts of the state.

• Southern Great Plains: Continuing dryness over north-central and northeastern Texas warranted a number of 1-category degradations. Texas, as dry weather has followed a reasonably wet summer in the region. In Oklahoma, 1-category downgrades were made across a significant portion of the state, with remaining drought-free areas in central and eastern Oklahoma deteriorating to abnormal dryness (D0). In Jackson County (southwest part of state)… Lake Altus-Lugert dropped to a historic low level of 12.6 percent of capacity.

• The Northwest: … the short-term gains have not offset long-term precipitation deficits… no change… in this area.

• Hawaii: A 1-categorydowngrade was warranted for western and southeastern sides of the Big Island of Hawaii…
  • On the west side, it was reported that livestock and ornamental producers were having to haul water to sustain operations, which is very expensive and significantly reduces profits.
  • On the southeast side of the Island, there were reports of crop stress.

• Alaska: No changes were made in Alaska this week.

Related Links

• Corn Belt Drought Intensifies September 6, 2013
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Corn Belt Drought Intensifies

Late growing season drought intensifies in Iowa, neighboring states: Report

Severe drought in Iowa increased to 32.07 percent up from 22.4 percent a week earlier, with 63.24 percent of the state covered in moderate drought or worse.

“After such an ideal start to the growing season, the past two months have been much drier than usual, with temperatures slowly increasing,” said David Miskus of U.S. Drought Monitor.

• Precipitation in central Iowa and northern Missouri was only 5 to 25 percent of normal, and as little as a tenth of an inch of rain.

• Iowa recorded its warmest week since July 2012, with highs of 104 degrees Fahrenheit at Des Moines and Fort Madison on Aug. 30.

• Iowa experienced its seventh driest August in 141 years of records, following the ninth driest July.

• Crop and pasture conditions began to deteriorate rapidly once heat was added to the dryness.

Small areas of severe drought also showed up in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin this week.

• Drought also expanded or intensified in Mississippi, Oklahoma and on the Hawaiian island of Maui, during the week.

The portion of the drought-stricken areas in the U.S. corn belt increased from 45 to 52 percent during the week ending September 3, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s meteorologist Brad Rippey, the report said.

• Soybeans in drought also increased in the last week, from 38 to 42 percent.
• Corn and soybeans in drought bottomed out in July at 17 and 8 percent, respectively.
• Cattle in drought increased one percent to 53 percent.

“Given that U.S. producers planted an estimated 97.4 million acres of corn and 77.2 million acres of soybeans in 2013, current drought figures suggest that more than 50 million acres (nearly 80,000 square miles) of corn and some 32 million acres (more than 50,000 square miles) of soybeans are presently being affected by drought,” Rippey said.

“According to USDA, nearly one-sixth of the U.S. corn (16 percent) and soybeans (15 percent) were rated in very poor to poor condition on September 1. A year ago, near the height of the Drought of 2012, very poor to poor ratings stood at 52 percent of the corn and 37 percent of the soybeans.”

As Midwest continued to dry out, parts of the Southwest and West saw scattered improvements from the monsoon season.

Overall, the portion of the contiguous United States in moderate to exceptional drought crept up to 50.09 percent from 50.04 percent a week earlier.

• The total land area in moderate drought increased to 17.69 percent, up from 16.67 previously.

• The area in exceptional drought shrank to 1.25 percent, down 0.07 percent from last week.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Expands Mainly in the South, High Plains August 29, 2013
• Agricultural Disasters Declared for 180 U.S. Counties August 29, 2013
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Expands Mainly in the South, High Plains

62.34 pct of contiguous US experiencing drought or abnormally dry conditions

Drought and abnormally dry conditions covered about 62.34 percent of contiguous United States, up from 59.98 percent a week earlier.

The percentage of land areas in the lower 48 covered by “Extreme” and “Exceptional Drought” levels remained nearly unchanged, while the total areas covered by “Severe” and “Moderate Drought” levels  increased by about 4.43 percent.

Meantime, USDA designated 39 additional counties in 5 states as agricultural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by the recent drought.

• Texas: Cherokee, Rusk, Smith, Van Zandt, Wood, Anderson, Gregg, Houston, Panola, Angelina, Harrison, Hunt, Rains, Camp, Henderson, Kaufman, Shelby, Franklin, Hopkins, Nacogdoches and Upshur counties.

• Colorado: Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Routt, Grand, Pitkin and Summit counties.

• Oregon: Curry, Coos, Douglas and Josephine counties.

• California: Del Norte County.

• Idaho: Jerome, Cassia, Gooding, Lincoln, Minidoka and Twin Falls counties.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Aug. 28, 2013. The lists include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

Map of the U.S. Drought Disaster areas as of August 28, 2013. At least 1,336 counties, or 42.5% of all U.S. counties¹, were designated as agricultural disaster areas² due to the ongoing drought. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

1. [U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]
2. Agriculture officials declare disaster when crop damage has exceeded 30 percent.

UPDATED: September 6, 2013 – MAP CORRECTED!

Related Links

• Agricultural Disasters Declared for 180 U.S. Counties August 29, 2013
• U.S. Drought Expands  August 22, 2013
• U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013
• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Expands

Abnormally Dry to Severe Drought levels expand; Extreme to Exceptional Drought levels retreat

 Abnormally Dry to Severe Drought levels spread in the contiguous United States, while areas covered by  Extreme to Exceptional Drought levels retreat.

US Drought Map as of August 20, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  Thursday August 22, 2013.

Agricultural Disaster Designations due to the Drought

At least 1,333 counties across 28 states have now been designated agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought so far this year. [The figure includes both the primary and contiguous drought disaster areas. ]

U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 21, 2013. At least 1,333 counties, or 42.41% of all U.S. counties*, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought, a rise of 0.41% (16 counties) since last week. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

*[U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013
• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

1,333 U.S. Counties Now Designated Drought Disaster Areas

16 Additional Counties Designated as Agricultural Disaster Areas

At least 1,333 counties across 28 states have now been designated agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought so far this year. [The figure includes both the primary and contiguous drought disaster areas. ]
U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 21, 2013. At least 1,333 counties, or 42.41% of all U.S. counties*, were designated as agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought, a rise of 0.41% (16 counties) since last week. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

*[U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013
• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Map – August 13, 2013

U.S. drought down fractionally, but more counties designated drought disaster areas

• As of August 13, 2013 about 57.30 percent of contiguous United States were affected by drought conditions, down slightly from 57.40 percent a week earlier.

• Some  45.26 percent of the land areas were covered by Moderate Drought (D1) to Exceptional Drought (D4), down from 45.49 percent.

US Drought Map as of August 13, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  August 15, 2013.

Map of U.S. Drought Disaster Areas

As of August 14, 2013 at least 1,317 U.S. counties were designated as primary or contiguous agricultural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought.

U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 14, 2013.  At least 1,317 counties, or 42% of all counties*, were designated as drought disaster areas. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

*[U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]

Related Links

• Drought Disaster Declared in 37 Counties Across 5 States August 15, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

U.S. Drought Expands Slightly

Extreme Drought, Abnormally Dry Levels in Lower 48 Expand Marginally

Areas covered by various drought levels in contiguous United States expanded marginally in the week ending August 6, 2013. D0 – D4 Drought levels covered 57.40 percent of the lower 48, up from 57.23 percent previous period.

The region worst affected by the drought was the South, where Exceptional Drought expanded to 3.75 percent, up from 3.04 percent earlier. The region’s D0 – D4 drought levels also expanded to 74.44 percent, up from 73.81 percent a week earlier.

US Drought Map as of August 6, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  August 8, 2013.

Related Links

• Agricultural Disaster Declared for Dozens of U.S. Counties August 8, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

Drought Worsens in the U.S. West

Drought intensifies in Nevada, Oregon, Utah and the Dakotas

Drought intensified in the U.S. West over the past week.

D0-D4 drought levels generally persisted in California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii, but eased slightly in Texas and New Mexico.

Drought conditions improved more significantly in Oklahoma, covering 52.77 percent of the state, down from 75.08 percent previously. In Arkansas, D0 – D2 drought areas were 71.01 percent, down from 90.94 percent last period. Kansas down to 87.80 percent, compared with 100 percent a week ago.

As of July 30, 2013, drought levels in the lower 48 improved slightly covering 57.23 percent of contiguous U.S., down from 58.30 percent previously.

Dry conditions in Iowa covered 70.18 percent of the land, up from 62.92 percent earlier.

As of July 31, 2013 some 1,295 U.S. counties across 28 states were designated as drought disaster areas by USDA. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.]

Related Links

• Disaster Declared for 98 Counties in 9 States August 1, 2013
• 2013 U.S. Drought Disaster Map August 1, 2013
• U.S. Drought Expands for 6th Consecutive Week July 26, 2013
• Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Expands for 6th Consecutive Week

Drought and dry conditions expand in the U.S. South, West, Midwest and High Plains

The areas in contiguous U.S.  that are covered by ‘Abnormally Dry’ thru ‘Exceptional Drought’ (D0 – D4 on the Drought Monitor scale) have expanded to 58.30 percent for the week ending July 23, 2013, up from 54.39 percent a week earlier.

Abnormally dry areas in the U.S. Midwest, including the top crop state of Iowa, reached 18.94 percent, up from 7.16 percent.

Iowa has experienced a triple fold increase in the areas covered by abnormally dry condition, reaching 62.9 percent, compared to 19.8 percent earlier.

Dry conditions have also expanded in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota and Missouri.

Five additional Montana counties have been designated as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the expanding drought.

US Drought Map as of July 23, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  July 25, 2013.

About 64 percent of the topsoil in Arkansas was rated short or very short of moisture, with 24 percent of the state’s pasture and rangeland in poor or very poor condition.

California had 95 percent of its pasture and rangeland in poor or very poor condition. Colorado 64 percent, Kansas 55 percent, Texas 44 percent and Arizona had 79 percent so rated, according to July 22 U.S. Department of Agriculture crop progress report.

“Missouri had 60 percent of the topsoil short or very short of moisture, and Iowa had 57 percent so rated, which was a jump of 22 percent since last week.”

Related Links

• Drought Disaster Declared for Montana Counties July 25, 2013
• U.S. Drought Expands for 5th Straight Week July 18, 2013

• U.S. Drought Expands for 4th Week July 11, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared in 3 States July 18, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Expands for 5th Straight Week

Drought persists in West, High Plains

“Moderate” to “Exceptional” drought areas (designated D1 to D4 on the chart) in lower 48 expanded to 46.13 percent, up from 44.85 percent a week ago, according to the US Drought Monitor.

• D1 to D4 drought areas in the South covered about 60.32 percent of the region, up from 54.97 percent a week ago.

• “Moderate” to “Exceptional” drought areas in the West covered about 76.84, up from 76.41 percent.
• High Plains saw the drought expanding this week to 67.00 percent, up from 66.22 percent.
• D0 to D1 drought levels in Midwest increased to 7.16 percent, up from 2.68 percent.

US Drought Map as of July 16, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  July 18, 2013.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Expands for 4th Week July 11, 2013
• Agricultural Disaster Declared in 3 States July 18, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Expands for 4th Week

South driest in weeks, as drought persists in West

“Moderate” to “Exceptional” drought areas (designated D1 to D4 on the chart) in lower 48 expanded to 44.85 percent, up from 44.06 percent a week ago, according to the US Drought Monitor.

D1 to D4 drought areas in the South covered about 54.97 percent of the region, up from 49.62 percent a week ago.

US Drought Map as of July 9, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  July 11, 2013.

Selected Highlight of National Drought Summary – July 9, 2013

The Central and Southern Plains, and Lower Mississippi River Valley:  Dry conditions persisted across most of the southern Great Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley. 

D0 was expanded to cover much of Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana … In a reassessment of conditions over Arkansas, a 2-category degradation (introduction of D1, moderate drought, where no drought was indicated in the previous map) was included as SPI-3, SPI6, and USGS (United States Geological Survey) real-time, 7-, and 14-day stream flows all indicated a rapid drying of the area. 

• Much of the same conditions were present across Oklahoma and Texas, so drought conditions intensified over those two states. 

• D2 (severe drought), D1 (moderate drought) and D0 (abnormal dryness) were expanded across much of eastern Texas. 

• Brazosport Water Authority implemented Stage 3 of its Drought Contingency Plan.   

• Inflows into the Lower Colorado River have trickled down to 10 cfs (from the Llano River) with Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan at 35 and 37 percent of capacity, respectively.  

• Medina Lake, near San Antonio is down to 5 percent capacity.  

• … across Oklahoma and southeastern Colorado, reports indicate sage brush and large trees dying and even some cacti turning brown. These reports come from the areas that have been in D4 (exceptional drought) for quite some time. 

• The percent of topsoil reports as short or very short from the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) across Texas increased by 13 percentage point, while it increased by 25 percentage points across Oklahoma.

Southwest and West: Some monsoon moisture streamed northward over the Southwest, making it as far north as the Great Salt Lake, bringing isolated rains to Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.  The heaviest rains (1.0 – 2.6 inches) were confined to southeastern Arizona and the highest of terrain in central New Mexico, therefore the rains had little impact on the drought in New Mexico.  US Drought Monitor

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Map – June 20 Release
• Drought Disaster Declared for 72 Counties in 9 States  May 31, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Expands for 3rd Consecutive Week

Drought conditions in U.S. expand again amid relentless heat and aridity in southern Plains

“Moderate” to “Exceptional” drought levels (D1 – D4 on the Drought Monitor scale) in the contiguous United States grew to 44.06 percent, up from 43.84 percent a week ago, the US Drought Monitor reported.

US South: D0 to D4 Drought levels increased to 60.20 percent, from 55.68 a week ago.

US Drought Map as of July 2, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on  July 3, 2013.

Drought Monitor Forecast:

Some rains associated with the southwest monsoon are also likely during the next 5 days.  Generally, less than 1.0 inches of rain is forecast across the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Map – June 20 Release
• Drought Disaster Declared for 72 Counties in 9 States  May 31, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Map – June 27 Release

Severe and Extreme Drought Levels Spread in the West and South

‘Severe’ and ‘Extreme’ and Exceptional Drought’ levels—D2, D3 and D4 on the U.S. Drought Monitor Scale—increase in western United States from 51.90 to 56.71% since last week , while the South experienced a rise of about 1.7% in Severe and Extreme drought levels in the same period.

US Drought Map as of June 25, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on June 27, 2013.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Map – June 20 Release
• Drought Disaster Declared for 72 Counties in 9 States  May 31, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Map – June 20 Release

Drought Intensifies in Western U.S.

US Drought Map as of June 18, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on June 20, 2013.

Related Links

• Drought Disaster Declared for 72 Counties in 9 States  May 31, 2013
• U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell? January 31, 2013 [FIRE-EARTH Forecast]
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]

U.S. Drought Disaster Spreads to Counties Across 8 States

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,129 Days Left 

[February 7, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,129 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 …

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

USDA declares 58 additional counties across 8 states drought disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 58 counties in 8 states as primary and contiguous disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.

• The latest disaster list includes counties in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

Drought Impact Reporter

Drought Map for Contiguous U.S. dated February 5, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on February 7.

Drought Links

• Drought Disaster 2013

U.S. Northeast

Major winter storm is forecast for parts of the Northeast and New England Friday into Saturday. “This Nor’easter-type storm system will bring strong winds and heavy snow to the region. Eastern New England will see the greatest effects, and a Blizzard Watch has been issued for Boston and surrounding areas.” NOAA reported.

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

U-S Drought 2013: Fueled by Heat from Hell?

More than 87 percent of US High Plains remains in severe drought or worse

FIRE-EARTH Forecast:  Persistent heatwaves and other factors disrupting the continental precipitation patterns could significantly intensify and spread the drought in the U.S. over the coming months.

[WARNING to ALL plagiarizers, intellectual property thieves, copycat bloggers and unscrupulous “weather experts”: Do NOT plug the above forecast into your climate models or work your way backwards to make additional deductions like before …]

• More than 67 percent of the US Midwest, about 69 percent of the South and 70 percent of the Southeast were abnormally dry or in drought conditions (D0 – D4), as of January 29, 2013.
• Drought conditions for the U-S, including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico:  68.87 percent in D0 to D4 (from 48.78% a year ago)
• Conditions for the Contiguous U-S: 69.73 percent in D0 to D4 (from 58.20% a year ago. Source: National Drought Mitigation Center)

U.S. Drought Monitor – High Plains – 29 January 2013.

US Drought Map as of January 29, 2013.

Drought Links

• Drought Disaster 2013

U.S. Drought Update

U.S. drought retreats fractionally, expected to persist through winter

Abnormally Dry to Exceptional Drought conditions (D0 to D4 drought levels on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale) now cover 74.98 percent of Continental United States, down from 76.72 percent last week, due to multiple storm system moving across the country.

U.S. Drought Map

U.S. Drought Map, October 16, 2012. Released by US Drought Monitor on October 18, 2012.

“The large majority” of the drought is expected to persist, however, and spread westward, said deputy director of NOAA.

“We even see drought expanding westward … into Montana, Idaho and part of Oregon and Washington.” He said.

Forecasters at NOAA also predict a dryer-than-usual and warmer winter.

“The main issues facing the U.S. going into this (winter) outlook period stem from persistent heat and drought,” chief of climate monitoring at NCDC told Reuters. “It is likely that 2012 will be the warmest of the 118-year record for the contiguous United States.”

2012 Drought Disaster Update

USDA has designated 2,673 counties as agricultural disaster areas. The designations, which extend across 47 states and D.C., include 2,234 counties listed as primary and 439 as contiguous disaster areas, as of October 17, 2012.

Total All Crop Approved Designations Disaster Incidents as of 10/17/2012- USDA Farm Service Agency Production, Emergencies and Compliance Division.   NOTE: The above map does NOT appear to have been fully updated.

CONTINUED…