Despite heavy snowfalls in some parts of the country, other parts have had an unusually, in fact record-setting, dry first two months of the year. The drought sets us up for a dangerous fire season.
USA Today reported:
Richard Heim, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center, said the 2.69-inch average rainfall across the U.S. in January and February is the least amount of moisture in those months since NOAA began keeping records in 1895.
So far this year, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has logged 11,814 wildfires, the most for any two-month period in a decade and almost 3,700 more than the average.
USA Today said spring planting is being delayed in parts of the country. And the story adds this bit of perspective, which I appreciated:
Despite the current severity, the latest conditions pale in comparison to the drought of the 1930s, known as the Dust Bowl. At its height in July 1934, nearly two-thirds of the nation was in a severe to extreme drought. Today, 7 percent is. Hundreds of heat records from the 1930s still stand across the Plains.
Additional resourcesU.S. drought monitor mapNational Climatic Data Center's Web siteNational Drought Mitigation Center's Web site
