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U.S. drought deepens in Plains states, wheat crop suffers
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on November 8th, 2012
Reuters: Hot and dry conditions in parts of middle America deepened an ongoing drought in many states over the last week, according to a climatology report issued Thursday.
October is typically the third-wettest month for Texas, but instead last month was the ninth-driest October statewide since 1895, according to the Drought Monitor report issued weekly by a consortium of state and federal climatology experts.
Texas and Oklahoma both recorded above-normal temperatures and little or no rain. Kansas...
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Let it snow – U.S. farms need recharged soil moisture after drought
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on November 2nd, 2012
Reuters: Drought-struck areas of the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt need a deluge of rain and snow this winter to fully recharge parched farmland, an unlikely scenario that means wheat, corn and soybean crops could face a rough new season.
While the worst drought in roughly half a century is slowly loosening its grip on the United States, meteorologists and agronomists warn that the threat has not passed.
Wheat farmers now sowing their last winter seeds, and corn and soybean growers making planting plans...
U.S. drought shrinking, but not fast enough
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on November 1st, 2012
Reuters: Snow and rain and cooler temperatures helped ease suffering in drought-stricken areas of the United States over the last week, though some areas saw conditions grow worse, according to a climatology report issued Thursday.
Monster storm Sandy, which devastated the eastern United States with heavy rains and high winds, had little to no impact on the driest areas of the U.S. Heartland. Indeed, the worst level of drought - "exceptional" - expanded in the U.S. South, which includes Oklahoma, Texas,...
Rains help shrink drought but High Plains still parched
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on October 25th, 2012
Reuters: Many areas of the drought-stricken United States continued to see improvement over the last week as steady rains started recharging parched soils, but for key agricultural areas of the U.S. Heartland, there was little relief, according to a climatology report issued Thursday. "We've seen some improvement ... but the impact of the drought and the dryness is far from over," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Roughly 61.79...
Drought areas shrink, wheat states see improvement
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on October 18th, 2012
Reuters: Drought retreated across many areas of the United States over the last week as storm systems pushed through parched areas, bringing coast-to-coast relief from record-breaking dry conditions.
Roughly 62.39 percent of the contiguous United States was experiencing at least "moderate" drought as of October 16, down from 63.55 percent a week earlier, according to Thursday's Drought Monitor, a weekly compilation of data gathered by federal and academic scientists.
The portion of the United States...
Drought persists, hits wheat growers hard – report
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on October 11th, 2012
Reuters: Drought conditions in the United States grew even worse over the last week as historic drought conditions crept north and threatened new winter wheat planting in several states.
September was the driest in 118 years of U.S. record keeping for North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana and was the third-driest September for Nebraska and Oregon, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the University of Nebraska's National Drought Mitigation Center.
Farmers trying to plant the nation's new winter...
Water shortages ahead across US as drought lingers
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on September 28th, 2012
Reuters: The worst drought in more than half a century baked more than two thirds of the continental United States this summer and its harsh effects continue to plague the parched cities and towns of the Great Plains.
Ask the 94,000 people of San Angelo, Texas, who are running out of water. Fast.
The city -- once known as "the oasis" of dry west Texas -- now says it only has enough water supplies to last one more year. On Oct. 16, it will enforce its highest level of emergency measures to save its water...
Drought area expands in U.S., now most extensive this summer
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on September 13th, 2012
Reuters: Hot and dry conditions continued to plague large parts of the U.S. Plains and southern states as the worst U.S. drought in over five decades expanded its grip on some key farming states.
At least "moderate" levels of drought have now enveloped more than 64 percent of the contiguous United States, up from 63.39 percent the week before, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly compilation of data gathered by federal and academic scientists.
"This is the greatest extent of drought we've seen...
Drought eases for some U.S. states, worsens for others
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on August 23rd, 2012
Reuters: Rainfall and cooler temperatures have combined to ease slightly the grip that the worst U.S. drought in over five decades is holding on some key farming states, but the suffering expanded in many others.
"There has been some improvement, at least in the eastern corn belt. And for the region as a whole we've seen a respite from the high temperatures," said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the University of Nebraska's National Drought Mitigation Center.
But he said the forecast for the next...
In Iowa, hope fades as relentless drought devastates crops
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on July 12th, 2012
Reuters: Bob Bowman runs his hand over a slender green corn leaf here on his Iowa farm, and sighs.
"This corn should be as high as my head right now, and it is only waist high," he says, as a cool morning breeze belies the 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures forecast to descend by afternoon in Welton, Iowa.
"If we get rain real quick here, we might be down 25 percent," said Bowman of prospective losses from the persistent dryness. "If we don't get rain in the next two weeks, it will be a lot more serious."...