Drought Forecast

[133724]

[MedleyMisty]

1. It did rain for most of Thursday and Friday here

But we need a lot more than that.

[133724]

2. La Nina.......

“Drought is by no means limited to the Southeast, as severe drought expanded northward all the way to Delaware this month. The Washington D.C. area is experiencing one of the most notable dry spells on record, with October 17 the 33rd consecutive day without measurable rain at Reagan National Airport,” said Douglas LeComte, drought specialist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

Additionally, the onset of La Niña means that drought will likely persist in the Mid Atlantic and the Southwest from Southern California into Arizona. In contrast, the drought forecast shows continued improvement for the Northeast and Great Lakes region, as well as the Northwest and northern Rockies.


http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071018_winteroutlook.html

[Warpy]

3. Dixie needs a hurricane or two to rain out over it

but it looks like Noel is heading out to sea after it hits part of Haiti and then Cuba.

[renie408]

4. Two months ago they were predicting a wetter than normal winter for us.

Now it is drier than normal. I am just not going to look any more.

[SoCalDem]

5. Drought is more than just the absence of rain

It's the depletion of underground aquifers and the loss of topsoil through erosion and slides when it DOES rain..

The below surface withering of root systems makes trees more vulnerable to wind and lets slopes slide away when rain happens..

TOO MANY PEOPLE living in and developing areas that do not have enough water only makes it worse, since the affected areas can never "catch up"..

And droughts can affect people not even IN a drought area, if the people living "above them" in the water flow of rivers they depend on, start hoardiing or damming them to keep more for themselves. I know there are riparian laws galore, but when people get desperate for water, they will take first and litigate later..

[Quixote1818]

6. We had a weak El Nino last winter and the Southwest was suposed to get above normal

precipitation. It didn't work out that way and in fact was way below normal in Southern Cal and Arizona. Hopefully the forecasts will be wrong again this year because the Southwest needs the rain as does the South East. Of course, so does Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.

[Warpy]

8. The Rio Grande Valley here in NM got clobbered with snow

we had 2 6 inch snowfalls and one 18 inch snowfall. It was a miserable winter in an area with snowplows only for the interstates.

Our 10 year drought had been declared officially over the preceding summer, when we had almost daily torrential rain for 5 weeks.

[SoCalDem]

9. 10 year drought declared over one year, and back the next?

I think someone's fudging the numbers.. :scared:..

[Warpy]

11. You don't realize how much precipitation we got all at once

Elephant Butte Reservoir got refilled in 5 weeks.

Remember, annual rainfall is about 11 inches.

[SoCalDem]

12. But if 10 yr's worth was replaced in one season and then USED up

again in 1 season, something's not measuring up :)

[Quixote1818]

15. Yes, New Mexico came out ahead but Arizona and Southern Cal got next to nothing

which is odd for an El Nino year. I live in Albuquerque (sounds like you might as well) we had a wet winter here though the summer was slightly below average. I think the mountains did OK though if you check out the SNOTEL data: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/New_Mexico/new_mexico.html

[SoCalDem]

10. The weatherguy out here says we're getting LaNina..(no rain)

Oh goody:eyes:

[DemoTex]

7. D-4/Persist here.

[mahina]

13. DT, is that photo showing dropped water level?

Whoa.

[DemoTex]

14. That's actually Lake Lanier in Georgia, Atlanta's main water reservoir.

But there are lakes here in Upstate SC that look just like that. And yes, that is the water level now. There are marinas on Lake Lanier that are now completely dry and out of business.