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hatrack

(59,446 posts)
Sat Apr 6, 2013, 09:39 AM Apr 2013

Nat. Drought Outlook Calls Intensification West, Some Improvement On E. Fringe Of Current Drought



The outlook for the western half of the U.S. continued to be bleak on Thursday, as forecasters said drought conditions are expected to expand and intensify all across the West and Southwest.

And Texas, which has been in the throes of drought for the better part of two years, may be hardest hit as its bone-dry conditions are expected to continue into summer, leading to shortages of drinking water.

An update to the Seasonal Drought Outlook released Thursday forecasts drought to intensify in southern and western Texas between now and June, thanks to a prevailing weather pattern that will bring a combination of above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, also released on Thursday, found that 88 percent of the "Lone Star State" is under some form of drought, with the worst impacts concentrated in southern Texas and the Texas panhandle. (Heavy rains fell in southeastern Texas during this week, but this occurred too late to be included in the Drought Monitor report.)

Drought conditions are also expected to worsen across the West and Southwest, where below-average winter snowfall has combined with low water supplies left over from 2012's bone dry summer to raise water supply concerns in states such as Colorado and New Mexico.

EDIT

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-keeps-pushing-west-will-last-into-summer-15828
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