It has been a major topic of discussion recently and for good reason. Much of the country is experiencing drought, and conditions are deteriorating fast with such a lack of moisture. I think the conditions are magnified this year in Kansas because we had so much hot and dry weather in 2011 that having another unusually dry summer is just discouraging. I'm posting a drought comparison from last year at the end of July to this year. It is striking to see how much of the United States is covered in orange and red, indicating severe to extreme drought conditions. It is very common this time of year to see thunderstorms develop on the higher terrain of Colorado and Nebraska, and then roll southeast through Kansas. We just haven't had that at all this summer.
I know we haven't seen the last of the 100 degree temperatures, but I definitely think the lengthy stretches (10-12 days in a row) are coming to a close. I don't think August is going to bring record rains, but I think there is some reason to hope we'll get more moisture in August than what we had in July. We are seeing some signs of a change already, but August will have some hot days to be sure. What we hope will be even better news is that if the El Nino phenomenon sets up for the winter months, that should lead to some possible wetter days into the winter months. I'm not making a prediction for winter yet, but if El Nino does come back, we should end up with better chances for moisture. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Wow! Haven't seen the drought map of last yr vs. this yr. I don't pay much attention to things like that because well, I'm only 17. But YIKES!! By the way, I LOVE you on the news. I make sure to go to KWCH every single night to check and see if you are on the weather. If so, I make sure to go back at 10:17 (on the dot) and cross my fingers to see MILLIE!!! :D I love it when she sits on the chair behind the pod. My mom is always like "Come on Millie!! Just bark!!" Hahaha it's so cute! I'll have to meet her at the state fair. :) Sorry for the ramblin'! By the way, this is the first time I'm on your blog. I'm a HUGE severe weather fanatic, I check the spc.noaa.gov website daily and have a collection of thunder boomin cloud photos :) One posted by Reed Timmer on his twitter :D Okay now seriously, sorry for my rambling, lol. Bye! :)
I'm glad to hear about the chance of moisture in August, I'm not sure how much more my yard can take of this dryness and I'm going to bet water restriction will start soon. Most importantly, my Golden Retriever thinks it is entirely too hot. As for the thought of wet winter, that sounds amazing, or maybe its just the thought of cooler temperatures that sounds so nice. Regardless this heat is becoming quite annoying, but then again its Kansas and its summer.
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