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 …

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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

Watching Events Unfold, Frame by Frame, Exactly as Forecast

Drought 2012 could linger for months

Corn and soybean prices break all-time records. Corn prices have climbed 53 percent in one month, as worst drought and poorest crop conditions in decades decimate yields in the Corn Belt region and beyond.

U.S. Drought Map for July 17, 2012, released July 19.

List of Disaster Areas Continues Growing

On Wednesday, USDA designated an additional 39 counties in 8 states as Primary Natural Disaster areas due to worsening drought, making up a disaster total of 1,297 counties in 29 states.  Additionally,  several hundred other counties have been declared as contiguous disaster areas.

One Way Drought

Drought is intensifying in the Corn Belt region and creeping to the areas beyond including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, southern Minnesota and parts of Missouri, Kentucky and the Dakotas.

Drought and Deluge Double Whammy

The historic drought could finally end in an epic deluge, in which case what is already extreme stress on the topsoil would be incalculable.

NASS Crop Production Data. Map of drought superimposed on the corn production areas, July 10, 2012.

Drought Stats

• Nearly two-thirds of Continental U.S. is currently in drought condition

• More than 42 percent of the lower 48 states were in SEVERE, EXTREME or EXCEPTIONAL Drought Conditions (D2-D4) as of July 17, 2012, a rise of over 5 percent since last week.

• As of July 17, 2012,  the entire Continental U.S. with the exception of Maine was experiencing Abnormally Dry or Drought Conditions (D0 -D4)  in full or in parts of the states, a situation which has since worsened due to scant precipitation and a persistent heat wave in the past few days.

• More than 81 percent of the Contiguous United States was Abnormally Dry or in Drought  Conditions (D0 – D4).
• Drought 2012 is considered as the worst drought since 1956 and worst agricultural drought since 1988.

• About 40% of the U.S. corn crop is in poor-very poor condition.
• Good-excellent soybean crop dropped to 34% – down from 56% at start of season.
• Some 1,297 counties in 29 states have been declared as primary natural disaster areas, with several hundred other counties designated as contiguous disaster areas.
• Less than 10 percent topsoil moisture is left in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
• Topsoil moisture in the entire Central Region is below 50 percent of normal.
  • Drought is expected to persist or intensify across Central Region.
  • About 98 percent of corn is grown within Central Region.
• About 80 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is experiencing drought.

Deadly Heat Persists

Meantime, preliminary records from NCDC showed 145 high temperature records broken Wednesday and 67 records tied in 23 states: Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

High temperatures in the triple digits will be the norm for the next several days for parts of the central U.S., with heat indices reaching into the 110 degree range. Some NWS Forecast Offices have already extended their heat advisories to last through the middle of next week. Source: NWS

Daily Max Heat Index Forecast

Latest Related Posts

• U.S. Drought Continues to Spread, Intensify Posted July 19, 2012
• Another Heat Wave Grips America’s Heartland Posted July 18, 2012
• Drought Continues to Plague Two-Thirds of Continental U.S.  Posted July 17, 2012
• Drought and deluge 

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

• Fires ravage Madeira islands and mainland Portugal
• Nationwide Spanish protests turn violent
• Over a third of Fukushima children at risk of developing cancer  [Google, WordPress and others filtered/blocked/suppressed FIRE-EARTH warnings on Fukushima nuclear disaster.]
• 80 people still missing after a Tanzanian ferry sank near Zanzibar
• Over 2,000 houses inundated in flood in Nepal

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

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Kentucky: Deluge to Drought in 12 Months

Drought consuming Western Kentucky after 2011 record deluge

2011 was the wettest year on record in Kentucky since records began 117 years ago, causing severe flooding, especially in western part of the state in April and May. But those same parts are currently in drought, meteorologists said.

“Like flooding, drought is a recurrent feature of Kentucky’s climate,” said Dr. Stuart Foster, state climatologist. “Last year was the wettest year on record across Kentucky going back to 1895. Now, the same areas of the state that experienced widespread flooding last spring are in drought.”

The contrast between 2011 and 2012 precipitation totals from some Kentucky Mesonet stations highlights the extremes of Kentucky’s climate.

Totals of about 17  to 24 inches were recorded in April and May last year in eight western Kentucky counties, while this year those same counties received between 1.44 and 5.80 inches of rain.

County  2011  (2012)
Fulton  21.55  (1.44)
Trigg   21.67  (2.18)
Caldwell 23.78  (2.46)
Graves  20.52  (2.82)
Calloway 21.06  (3.18)
Clinton  16.79  (3.56)
Marshall 24.17  (3.87)
Cumberland  19.13  (5.80)

• See also: Drought Intensifying in the U.S. South and West Posted on June 2, 2012

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Colorado.  “Extreme drought conditions are expanding in northwest Colorado, covering most of Garfield, Rio Blanco, and Routt counties as well as portions of Moffat, Pitkin, and Mesa counties — encompassing about 10 percent of the state in a region with critical watersheds for downstream water users,” said a report.
  • With the snowpack gone,  streamflows would be well below average this year, forecasters said.

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

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Drought Intensifying in the U.S. South and West

70 percent or more of the areas across 20 states are abnormally dry or in drought

The entire states of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico and Rhode Island are in abnormally dry condition (D0) or experiencing various drought levels (D1 – D4).

Drought Map of Contiguous U.S.  released May 31, 2012.

More than 90 percent of the areas in the U.S. states of Nevada, South Carolina (99.07), Utah, Texas, Georgia and Massachusetts are also in D0 – D4 drought conditions.

• The other states experiencing drought conditions are (%)

• Alabama (87.97)
• Kansas (85.84)
• Wyoming (85.08)
• Florida (84.82)
• California (84.11)
• New Hampshire (80.9)
• Louisiana (79.72)
• Maryland (73.09)
• Oklahoma (72.7)
• Tennessee (70.66)
• Iowa (69.9)

“We haven’t seen it quite like this since the 2002 season, which was a big wildfire season,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Rame.

“… a combination of abnormal dryness and heat sparked rapid drought development across the middle and lower Mississippi Valley, while near-record heat across the Southeast was interrupted by hit and miss thunderstorm activity. During the upcoming three month period, drought persistence is expected across the Great Basin and central Rockies due to a dry climatology, while the onset of the monsoon season may bring some relief to portions of the Southwest.” NWS/CPC reported.

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Brazil.  More than 800 municipalities in northeastern Brazil are in drought emergency, following an official announcement that 25 more cities in Pariaba state are in drought condition.
  • The worst-hit states include Bahia, Ceara, Pariaba, and Rio Grande do Norte, with a total of more than 10 million people affected.
  • In the worst-affected areas water is trucked to the parched cities.

• Beijing, China.   Water consumption in the Chinese capital Beijing is expected to reach a record high this summer, the authorities said.
  • Peak  consumption in Beijing is forecast to reach 2.97million cubic meter per day.
  • The city has a maximum daily capacity of 3 million m³/day.
  • Beijing Municipality has a population of at least 20million.
    
  • “On May 28, Beijing’s water consumption reached 2.77 million m³, exceeding the peak amount seen last year,” said the report.
  • Beijing has been experiencing drought for 13 consecutive years,” and its fast-paced economic development and ever-growing population have exacerbated the water shortage.”
  • Average water consumption in China is about 80 liters per person per day, or less than 15 percent of the U.S. consumption.

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

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Drought in Kansas Damages Aquifers

Kansas drought in 2011 has caused severe declines in groundwater levels

Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011, Kansas Geological Survey said. That’s compared to a decline of 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – March 30

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,447 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Kansas, USA.  Kansas drought in 2011 has caused severe declines in groundwater levels.

U.S. Seasonal Drought Map.

• • The drought began in the fall of 2010.
  • Much of Kansas received between 25 to 50 percent of normal rainfall.
  • Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011, Kansas Geological Survey said. That’s compared to a decline of 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.
  • Thew is a nearly 174,000-square-mile underground cache of water that spreads across parts of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming – one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world.
  • “The growing season was probably the worst since the 1930s,” said Kansas Geological Survey water-data manager. “It was just awful.”
  • “It’s a change from 80 years ago when, during the Great Depression, hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers went out of business after drought and dust storms damaged their crops. Back then, there was little irrigation relief or knowledge of the magnitude of the reservoir underneath the surface,” said a report.
  • The Ogallala Aquifer (aka, the High Plains Aquifer,) is one of the world’s largest aquifers, covering an area of about 450,000 km² (174,000 mi²).
  • Named after the town of Ogallala, Nebraska, the vast but shallow aquifer is located beneath the Great Plains covering portion of eight states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
  • Ogallala yields about 30 percent of the ground water used for irrigation in the U.S.
  • The aquifer has been declining for decades
  • “High Plains ground water is used primarily to grow crops for the Nation; irrigation accounts for 94 percent of the ground-water use. The second largest ground-water use, 418 million gallons per day (Mgal/day), is for domestic drinking water. Almost 2 million people rely on the High Plains aquifer for their drinking water. Surface water is used for drinking water primarily in the larger cities near the periphery of the High Plains aquifer (Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Lubbock, Odessa, and Amarillo, Texas). Other uses of ground water include livestock (222 Mgal/day), mining (210 Mgal/day), and industry (155 Mgal/day).” USGS said.

Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2005 (modified from McGuire, 2007). Map shows the areas of substantial water-level changes in the aquifer from the time prior to substantial ground-water irrigation development (predevelopment or about 1950) to 2005 Source: USGS

Water-Level Changes, Predevelopment to 2005

• The map of water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment to 2005  was generated using methods described by McGuire (2007). The map is based on water levels from 3,682 wells, which were measured in predevelopment and in 2005, and other previously published data in areas with few predevelopment water levels. The areas with few predevelopment water levels are in the central part of the Nebraska Panhandle, west-central Nebraska, and southeastern Wyoming.

• The water-level changes from predevelopment to 2005 ranged between a rise of 84 feet and a decline of 277 feet. Area-weighted, average water-level change from predevelopment to 2005 was a decline of 12.8 feet. Approximately 25 percent of the aquifer area had more than 10 feet of water-level decline from predevelopment to 2005; 17 percent had more than 25 feet of water-level decline, and 9 percent had more than 50 feet of water-level decline. Approximately 2 percent of the aquifer area had more than 10 feet of water-level rise from predevelopment to 2005 (McGuire, 2007).

Change in Water in Storage, Predevelopment to 2005

• Total water in storage in 2005 was about 2,925 million acre-feet, which was a decline of about 253 million acre-feet (or 9 percent) since predevelopment. Water in storage for predevelopment was inferred from water in storage in 2000 and water-level changes from predevelopment to 2000. Changes in storage prior to predevelopment were not estimated (McGuire, 2007).

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

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

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar:  Collapse has already Begun

Floods isolate thousands in NSW, Australia

Torrential rain triggers severe flooding in New South Wales, Australia

Floodwater has “created an inland sea and it’s quite spectacular when you’re in the air but not so happy for the people on the ground,”  said a State Emergency Service official.

Disaster Calendar 2011 – November 27

[November 27, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,571 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• NWS, Australia. Torrential rain has caused severe flooding in New South Wales, Australia, isolating dozens of communities and hundreds of farms.
• More than 2,000 residents have been isolated.
• “I’ve just flown over the area in the chopper and it’s very extensive the amount of flooding,” said a State Emergency Service official.
• The floodwater has “created an inland sea and it’s quite spectacular when you’re in the air but not so happy for the people on the ground,” the official added.
• Floods have already killed a a three-year-old boy, who drowned  when he was swept into a stormwater drain at Bingara.

Other Global Disasters

• Arizona, USA. “Extreme drought conditions have now expanded from southern Arizona up into central portions of the state, including the Phoenix metro area,” said a report.
• The water levels in some of the state’s reservoirs have dropped by as much as 27 percent compared with a year ago.
• USA. More than 43 percent of the Contiguous USA is currently in a drought (D0-D4), with about a third of the country (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) in moderate (D1) to exceptional (D4) drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.
• “This is the most drought for the contiguous U.S. since Jan. 22, 2008,” according to the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Related Links

• Australian Disasters

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities  (EDRO Forecast)
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)

• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

U.S. Drought Outlook

2011: The Year of Extremes

Click image to enlarge. Source: NWS/NOAA

Latest Seasonal Assessment – Drought continued to slowly expand and locally intensify in a broad area across the southern and southeastern states, the lower Mississippi Valley, and the lower Ohio Valley northward through Indiana and southern Michigan. Based on the Seasonal Outlook for December 2010 – January 2011, which relies primarily on climate anomalies typically observed during La Niña episodes, drought persistence and broad expansion is expected from central and southern Texas eastward along and near the Gulf Coast through the southern Atlantic Seaboard. Chances for drought improvement increase away from the coastal plains, with some improvement forecast across the upper South, and broad-scale improvement expected from southern portions of the middle Mississippi Valley through the lower Ohio Valley and points north. As in areas farther east, the drought region in northeastern Arizona is forecast to persist and expand, covering large sections of the southern Four Corners region by the end of February. The recently-expanded drought across the central High Plains is also expected to persist through this period, which is their driest time of year climatologically. Farther west, limited drought improvement is expected across central Nevada, but more substantial improvement seems likely in western Wyoming and across the drought region in northeast California, southern Oregon, and adjacent areas. In Hawaii, the seasonal increase in rainfall and a modest tilt of the odds toward a wetter than normal winter season should bring limited improvement to the areas affected by drought, but the large, long-term precipitation shortages recorded in these areas will likely preclude any widespread, substantial improvement by the end of the period.  Source of Forecast: NWS/ CPC

Related Links:

• Disaster Forecast: The United States
• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011

• Collapse Diary
• 2010 Disaster Calendar
• Energy Dinosaurs