As of this week, almost all areas west of the Appalachians, in addition to coastal areas of the Northeast, are experiencing some degree of drought. While flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton has deservedly received a great deal of attention, the widespread drought is potentially even more devastating.
Many areas of the U.S. have received only a negligible amount of rain throughout October and above normal temperatures are forecast for the coming week. Mountain snowpack is off to a slow start in the West and river levels are falling across the Heartland. The risk of wildfire has increased significantly in most regions of the country.
Warm, sunny weather is appealing to most humans and we tend to focus more on storms than on drought. In that regard, another tropical storm appears to be brewing in the Caribbean. One hopes it might move northward and spread welcome rain across the Plains and the Midwest but it would have to cross the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico en route, likely spawning another destructive hurricane. Slow-moving, Pacific cold fronts would offer a better and less damaging remedy for the drought but our changing climate seems to yield extremes at every turn.
