Drought in the Great Plains and Midwest is getting more intense, federal report shows
A drought in the Great Plains and the Midwest has quickly grown in its size and severity in the last month, according to an update released Wednesday by the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Currently, 60% of the North Central U.S. is in “moderate to exceptional drought” with 30% in “severe drought or worse” according to NIDIS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The worst-hit areas include Kansas, where 30% of the state is in exceptional drought, and Nebraska, which is 12% in exceptional drought. Smaller parts of Colorado, Missouri and South Dakota are as badly affected.
While the entire Midwest has been in a worsening drought for months, the western portions of the region — the Missouri River Basin and the Great Plains — have been hit the hardest. Water has dropped to “record low levels” on the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers, NIDIS reported, which has impeded boats and shipping. In total, 86% of the North Central U.S. is “abnormally dry” or worse.
“Over the last four weeks, many areas, particularly across the Midwest, have worsened by at least one drought category on the U.S. Drought Monitor and in some areas by two to three categories,” NIDIS reported in its update. “Drought has intensified most rapidly across southern Missouri, Kentucky, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and northern Iowa.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/drought-in-the-great-plains-and-midwest-is-getting-more-intense-federal-report-shows-210827880.html
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