Drought is a hazard of nature. You may be interested to look at an up-to-date US drought map.
(Realtime US Drought Maps are embedded below)
The following are drought map embeds from a variety of sources presenting their latest data for the United States. As I update this post, there are many regions within the US under Extreme, and Exceptional drought. Texas, California, and more (just look at the map). It’s pretty obvious that there are going to be devastating crop losses and downstream negative effects, given what I see during this late-summer update.
Additionally, as I’m sure you know, many of the lakes, reservoirs, and rivers in western affected regions are alarmingly low. Millions upon millions depend on these sources for water. Is there a major disaster looming in this regard? I’m sure that lots of wells are going dry too…
Regarding crop failure observations due to drought, a reader on the blog reported,
Drove I-90 for a good chunk of the trip. All I’ll say about that is stock up on any animal feed that involves corn, especially. With the exception of a region of SW WI/NE IA, it did not look good. Tassels are starting or open, and if it doesn’t rain soon…… Same for what I saw from the interstate through the great plains. The green spots were there due to irrigation, and mostly for hay/small grazing areas.~ Farmgirl
Add your own drought observations in the comments below.
More about drought:
A drought does not announce its arrival. It’s a “creeping phenomenon,”. What may first appear to be just a dry spell can only be recognized in hindsight as the early days of a drought.
Generally speaking, a drought is defined as a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time(usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage.
A number of factors may influence the onset of drought, or it’s continuation. Long term weather patterns. Storm-track variations. The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). El-Nino. La-Nina. The Sun – solar variability. Deep ocean circulation. And other cyclical events that occur naturally here on earth.
There are several categories of drought intensity.
- Abnormally Dry
- Moderate Drought
- Severe Drought
- Extreme Drought
- Exceptional Drought
The impact of drought are many, and include the geographical-environmental, agricultural, social, and economic.
Drought is obviously a high concern for farmers, those growing their own food, those dependent upon reservoirs being replenished to supply municipal systems, the animals and eco-systems, just to name a few…
I had my own personal impact last year when my region was technically in drought. I rely on a natural spring for my water source. Normally it wells up at about 7 – 10 gallons per minute. However it had slowed down to about 3 gallons per minute. It was still plenty for our homestead needs, but I did start to get a bit nervous about it…
The risk of drought is greater in some regions more than others. If you live in a drought-prone region, you probably already know it or have experienced it…
As of this post date, large regions of the southwest United States are in extreme drought or exceptional drought.
For your interest I have embedded several US drought maps. They will auto-update to the latest images regardless of this article’s post date.
Drought Maps of the US
Drought Map – droughtmonitor.unl.edu
USA Monthly Drought Map – Month Outlook
“Drought Tendency” (Monthly)
United States Drought Map – Seasonal Outlook
“Drought Tendency” (Seasonal)
United States Drought History
The use of tree ring methodology has revealed that the characterization of drought has been a normal part of climate throughout our history.
[ Read: United States Aquifer Locations ]
Ukame ni hatari ya asili. Unaweza pia kufurahia kuona ramani ya ukame wa Marekani. "Kupitia ramani ya ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps) na ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps) na ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps) na ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps) na ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps) na ""Real Time US Drought Maps"" (Real Time US Drought Maps)." Kama mimi update chapisho hili, kuna mikoa mingi ndani ya Marekani chini ya mkali, na ukame wa kipekee. Texas, California, na zaidi (angalia tu ramani). Ni wazi kabisa kwamba kutakuwa na hasara kubwa za mazao na athari mbaya za chini, kutokana na kile ninachoona wakati wa sasisho hili la mwisho wa majira ya joto. Kwa kuongezea, kama ninavyojua, maziwa mengi, mabwawa, na mito katika mikoa ya magharibi iliyoathiriwa ni ya chini sana. Mamilioni ya watu hutegemea vyanzo hivyo vya maji. Je, kuna msiba mkubwa unaokaribia kuhusiana na jambo hilo? Mimi nina uhakika kwamba mengi ya visima ni kwenda kavu pia... Kuhusu uchunguzi wa kushindwa mazao kutokana na ukame, msomaji juu ya blog aliripoti, Drove I-90 kwa sehemu nzuri ya safari. Yote nitakayosema kuhusu hilo ni hifadhi juu ya chakula chochote cha wanyama ambacho kinahusisha mahindi, hasa. Kwa sababu ya hali ya hewa ya kusini-magharibi, WI-NA-IA haikuonekana kuwa nzuri. Tassels ni kuanza au wazi, na kama si mvua hivi karibuni...... Same kwa kile niliona kutoka interstate kupitia nyanda kubwa. Sehemu za kijani zilikuwapo kwa sababu ya umwagiliaji, na hasa kwa ajili ya nyasi / maeneo madogo ya malisho. ~ Farmgirl Ongeza uchunguzi wako mwenyewe wa ukame katika maoni hapa chini. Zaidi kuhusu ukame: Ukame hautangazi kuwasili kwake. Ni "kiwango cha chini", "kiwango cha chini". Kile ambacho mwanzoni chaweza kuonekana kuwa kipindi cha ukame tu kinaweza kutambuliwa tu kwa kutazama nyuma kuwa siku za mapema za ukame. Kwa ujumla, ukame hufafanuliwa kama upungufu wa mvua kwa kipindi kirefu cha wakati (kwa kawaida msimu au zaidi), na kusababisha upungufu wa maji. Mambo kadhaa yanaweza kuathiri mwanzo wa ukame, au ni kuendelea. Mifumo ya hali ya hewa ya muda mrefu. Tofauti za njia za dhoruba. Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) ni kipimo cha El-Nino. La-Nina. Jua <unk> mabadiliko ya jua. Mzunguko wa bahari ya kina kirefu. Na matukio mengine ya mzunguko yanayotokea kwa asili hapa duniani. Kuna makundi kadhaa ya ukame nguvu. -Kukosa mvua kwa kawaida - Ukame wa wastani - Ukame Mkubwa - Ukame Mkubwa - Ukame wa kipekee Athari za ukame ni nyingi, na ni pamoja na kijiografia- mazingira, kilimo, kijamii, na kiuchumi. "Mwaka uliopita, ""mwaka wa ukame"" ulikuwa na athari kubwa kwa wakulima, wale wanaopanda chakula chao wenyewe, wale wanaotegemea kuhifadhi maji ili kuandaa mifumo ya manispaa, wanyama na mifumo ya ikolojia, kwa kutaja chache tu... Nilikuwa na athari yangu binafsi mwaka jana wakati mkoa wangu ulikuwa katika ukame." Mimi hutegemea chemchemi ya asili kuwa chanzo changu cha maji. Kwa kawaida, maji hayo huongezeka kwa karibu galoni 7 hadi 10 kwa dakika. Hata hivyo, ilikuwa imepungua hadi galoni 3 kwa dakika. """Hata hivyo, bado tulikuwa na mahitaji ya kutosha kwa ajili ya mashamba yetu, lakini nilianza kuwa na wasiwasi kidogo kuhusu hilo, kwa sababu hatari ya ukame ni kubwa katika baadhi ya mikoa kuliko nyingine." Ikiwa unaishi katika eneo lenye ukame, labda tayari unajua au umepata uzoefu wa ukame, na maeneo makubwa ya kusini magharibi mwa Marekani yanakabiliwa na ukame mkubwa au ukame wa kipekee. Kwa maslahi yako nimeingiza ramani kadhaa za ukame wa Marekani. Wao itakuwa auto-update kwa picha ya hivi karibuni bila kujali hii makala ya post tarehe. "Kutumia ""Mfano wa Ukame"" (Drying Trend Map) na ""Mfano wa Ukame"" (Drying Trend Map) ni njia ya kuelezea hali ya hewa ya nchi nzima." [Soma: Maeneo ya Aquifer ya Marekani]