Monday, May 2, 2011

Drought in Pictures


Kansas is not in the right spot for rainfall this year and it doesn't look to get any better soon. Rainfall has been so heavy in southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and northeast Texas. In the last week, rainfall amounts of 8-10 inches have been quite common across Arkansas and the flooding is historic for some.

The pictures posted here are from Rice county, near Lyons, where dry and windy conditions from last week help pile up dirt in ditches. Even those who have had moisture in central Kansas say it's been rather spotty, and agree, more rain is needed to help fill farm ponds and keep the wheat in business. The lack of moisture is evident in wheat fields that are now producing heads as the plants are so much smaller than normal.

So far this spring, there have only been two days with tornadoes in Kansas. Last year (from March 1st - April 30) there were only two days with tornadoes, but when May 2010 started, the severe season ramped up. There were 8 different days with tornadoes reported in Kansas. Historically, this is the busiest month with severe weather, so we can't let our guard down even though our storm season has been off to a very slow start.

1 comment:

Jon said...

Some of those pictures are starting too look like Dust Bowl Pictures from the 1930s. :(

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