Drought Expansion Slowed in August

The US Drought Monitor has noted a significant expansion of the drought in the lower 48 states has finally stopped. The agency said that about a quarter of the country continues to experience drought conditions that are rated either ‘extreme’ or ‘exceptional’.

The forecast does get a little better though:

The Drought Outlook valid through the end of November 2012 indicates drought conditions will remain essentially unchanged in large sections of the central Mississippi Valley, the central and southwestern Great Plains, most of the High Plains, the central Rockies, the Great Basin, and parts of the Far West, though the seasonal declines in temperatures, evaporative moisture loss, and water demand should preclude any widespread worsening of conditions. At least some improvement is forecast for much of the central Rockies, the Southwest, the southern Great Plains, the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes region, the upper Midwest, and the eastern tier of states.

The Drought Monitor outlook is available here.

Paul Ausick