Midwest Weather & Water Oulook Improving; Western States In Increasingly Dire Straits

[hatrack]

EDIT



That same systems of thunderstorms then passed over the southeastern Plains, and led to the elimination of drought in southeastern Oklahoma, and eased the severe drought conditions in east Texas. However, the storm system was also responsible for the outbreak of tornadoes in Oklahoma, including the one that tore across Moore on Monday.

The passing rains brought optimism for corn farmers, whose crops were decimated by the drought that began last year. The cold spring delayed planting this year, but farmers have been rushing to catch up. In the top 18 corn-growing states, farmers planted 43 percent of this year’s crop, tying a record for the amount planted a single week. If drought conditions continue to ease, there might just be a healthy corn crop this year.

Conditions are far different out West. Less than an inch of rain fell over most of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and the western parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas during the past seven days. As a result, drought conditions deteriorated across the region. Areas of severe drought expanded in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. The areas of extreme drought that have developed in the Texas panhandle over the past month slid into “exceptional” drought this week, adding to the growing patch of “exceptional” drought that now stretches across a half-dozen states.

And that portends bad news for western farmers and ranchers going into summer. In the West, pastures and rangeland are in dire straits. On May 19, the USDA reported that at least 40 percent of rangeland in seven of the 11 western states was rated poor or very poor. In addition, 53 percent of the nation’s cattle herds are in those seven states. The worst pasture conditions are in New Mexico (98 percent), but states like Nevada (69 percent), Nebraska (69 percent), and Arizona (63 percent) are not far behind.

EDIT

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/optimism-for-crops-in-the-midwest-dire-straits-in-the-west-16030

[Demeter]

1. It's abnormally dry in Michigan--although the map doesn't show it

So I'm thinking that if it understates the problem here, it probably does everywhere...