Thursday, July 12, 2012

60% of Nation In an Official Drought


Sixty percent of the Contiguous United States (CONUS) is now under an official drought, characterized by D1-D4 conditions or worse. Another 20% of the nation is approaching drought conditions. That 20% is shown in yellow.

We are in the worst drought in recorded history since the Drought Monitor has been working (12 years). I, for one, can confirm that my lawn is either an unhealthy dark green or brown. So, is there any relief in sight?

Total precipitation off the 12z GFS. I apologize for how much of an eyesore it is.
The total precipitation counts off the 12z GFS until hour 384 show good rains heading for the Southeast and Gulf Coast in a good show of an El Nino pattern. However, there looks to be something of a continued lack of good precipitation over the Great Lakes and Midwest, where only a couple inches at most are anticipated.

Total Precipitation off the 0z FIM
Total precipitation values off the 0z FIM earlier today indicate a similar situation to the GFS is being shown, with heavy precipitation in the Southeast, but fairly little precipitation in the Midwest and Great Lakes.

All in all, the models seem to like the idea of a wet Southeast and dry Midwest, which could spell disaster for countless crops already suffering in that area.

Andrew

1 comment:

mike paulocsak said...

Hello Andrew! This looks bad.I only see this getting worse before it gets better.Who really knows how long this will continue.One thing is everyone who is being affected by this drought,should watch their water usage.As for how long this will continue,time will tell.I personally see this pattern lasting into early winter.As for el-nino,la-nina,or netrual,it's basically up for grabs right now.Like in a previous post you had,it will determine what the atmosphere wants to do.Take care everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!