NOAA Expects U.S. Drought To Continue and Spread

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, drought conditions throughout more than half of the continental United States will persist this year, reports Maggie Astor.

Nearly 60 percent of the continental United States is experiencing drought, which is the largest part since 2013, NOAA said in issuing its spring outlook, a broad climatic forecast for April, May and June. While these conditions are not new, the agency expects them to worsen and spread in the coming months because of above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation.

Astor writes that California's Central Valley, which produces a quarter of the nation's food, will likely see the lowest three-year precipitation total in recorded history. "Lake Powell, one of two huge reservoirs on the Colorado River, fell this week to its lowest level since it was created more than 50 years ago with the construction of Glen Canyon Dam," threatening to shut down hydropower production.

"All of this increases the risk of wildfires, which have become larger and more frequent in recent years. In the United States, a study published this week by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that from 2005 to 2018, fires occurred twice as often in Western states and four times as often in Great Plains states compared with the previous two decades."