News

Drought conditions bear watching

Drought conditions have expanded in recent weeks from the central Plains through the Upper Midwest.

Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the U.S .Drought Monitor, says there are some interesting similarities to 2012.

“Some of that dryness and some of the early warmth is similar to what we saw in 2011-2012,” Fuchs says, “and we all know what happened by May and June of 2012.”

But Fuchs says there is also one major difference from 2012.

“A lot of those areas did see pretty good soil recharge back in the fall, where in 2011-2012 we did not see that,” he says. “So we do have a pretty good storage of moisture in the soil right now.”

Still, Fuchs says, the situation bears watching.

“We do need to watch this and as we move forward really start acknowledging these areas that have been dry.”

The last Drought Monitor report, dated March 31st, showed moderate drought or worse covered nearly 37 percent of the U.S.  That was up five percentage points from the previous week, but still slightly below last year’s levels.

Here are the changes in moderate drought condition coverage, from the first of the year to the end of March, for four Brownfield states:

• Nebraska—zero to 23 percent
• South Dakota—five to 43 percent
• Minnesota—one to 92 percent
• Wisconsin—zero to 55 percent

 

AUDIO: Brian Fuchs