Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumKS Currently 88% In Extreme or Exceptional Drought; On May 1, 0.3% Of State Was In Ext/Exc Drought
EDIT
Some rains fell during the past week in the Southwest and the northern corn belt of the Upper Midwest, which helped alleviate the drought conditions somewhat, along with the Southwest and eastern U.S., but the rainfall was largely scattered in nature.
The High Plains, which has been roasting under a large "heat dome" of High Pressure for much of the summer, has been the hardest-hit drought region, with nearly 50 percent of a six-state area from Colorado to South Dakota experiencing extreme to exceptional drought.
As for the title of hardest-hit state, Arkansas is vying with Kansas for that dubious distinction. In Arkansas, 44 percent of the state is experiencing exceptional drought conditions, with about 81 percent classified as being in extreme-to-exceptional drought. That was a jump from July 24, when about 34 percent of the state was in exceptional drought.
In Kansas, 88 percent of the state is in extreme to exceptional drought, up from about 73 percent a week ago. Demonstrating how quickly the drought evolved, just 0.3 percent of the state was in extreme-to-exceptional drought as of May 1.
EDIT
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-intensifies-in-hardest-hit-areas-14736/
msongs
(67,405 posts)hatrack
(59,585 posts)Or, at the very least, a state with an extremely self-righteous governor!
kimbutgar
(21,145 posts)NickB79
(19,236 posts)Fuck me. I say replant the whole state into the native short-grass prairie before it's too late. We're going to look back one day and realize breaking the prairies was one of the worst mistakes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.