Climate Change Altering Droughts, Impacts Across U.S.. As a major drought devastated the West and Midwest beginning in 2012, farmers racked up billions of dollars in crop losses and water managers grappled with possible water shortages for millions of people as reservoirs dried up in the heat.
“A huge chunk of the country is in drought (during that period) and other chunks are really wet.” Warmer temperatures over the past 30 years and more frequent regional dry spells since 1998 are changing the water cycle, posing challenges for urban and agricultural areas throughout the country.
2012 was a critical year for drought in the U.S. Several ongoing regional droughts “merged” to create a massive nationwide drought leaving more than 60 percent of the country suffering severe levels of drought or worse.
Research shows that when dry spells occur, climate change is likely to make them drier than they would otherwise be because warmer temperatures increase evaporation.
A Climate Central analysis shows that since 1949, 68 percent of weather stations between 2,000 feet and 5,000 feet in elevation in 42 states have seen a lower percentage of winter precipitation falling as snow.
Heim’s study shows that one of the unusual characteristics of the most recent drought compared to those in the 20th century is that, on a national scale, the drought’s driest seasons were in the winter and spring.
Cook said that the 2012 “merger” of regional droughts is unusual because different regions of the country typically see their wet and dry seasons at different times of year.
California, for example, receives nearly all its precipitation during the winter, while the Central Plains see their wettest months during spring and early summer.
“Most droughts are a bit quirky in their character, and all droughts impact a different society and economy than their predecessors making each drought and its lessons substantially unique,” Lund said.
“Still, it is very likely that higher temperatures will worsen the severity of droughts.” Comments [+] View our comment guidelines.

The State Water Commission voted Thursday to activate a drought disaster program to help North Dakota ranchers get water to livestock in extremely dry parts of the state.
The program would provide $250,000 in state dollars to help fund water supply projects such as new wells or hookups to water pipelines to help livestock producers in areas with extreme drought.
Gov.
Burgum said he’s been meeting with leaders of state and federal agencies to address the severe drought conditions facing North Dakota, including taking steps toward establishing a joint information center to coordinate state resources.
“This is one important piece of a much broader statewide response that we’re working on,” Burgum said.
Drought conditions continue to worsen in North Dakota, with 8 percent of the state listed in extreme drought.
“A lot of cattle are being sold," said Water Commissioner George Nodland of Dickinson.
"It’s sad.” Under the drought disaster livestock water supply program, the state will fund up to half of a water supply project, such as rural water system connections, pipeline extensions, pasture taps, stock water tanks and other projects, for producers in the affected counties.
The maximum available is $3,500 per project, with each producer eligible for up to three projects.
More information, including a map of the counties included in the program, is expected to be available Friday and posted to the State Water Commission website, swc.nd.gov.

Story Highlights A severe drought is now impacting portions of Montana Farmers and ranchers report poor soil conditions in many areas A Drought Disaster declaration is expected on Friday To get a sense of just how bad things are in the eastern part of Montana, you have to look back at the last couple months.
On May 18, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed just two counties in eastern Montana were experiencing "abnormally dry" conditions.
This is now the worst drought to affect northeast Montana since the U.S. Drought Monitor was first issued in 2000.
Numerous farmers and ranchers in the area tell KRTV these are the worst conditions they’ve experienced since 1988.
This area has received a little bit of rain (.12" at Glasgow Valley County Airport) in June, but even that has disappeared.
Strong winds in recent weeks has accelerated the evaporation process, stripping the ground of its moisture.
Even though showers and thunderstorms have moved over the area, the water is evaporating almost immediately, leaving the ground dry and cracked.
The Executive Order (EO), expected on Friday, would cover issues like wildfires, water hauling, and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program lands.
19 counties are expected to be included in the EO: Hill, Blaine, Phillips, Valley, Daniels, Sheridan, Roosevelt, Richland, McCone, Garfield, Petroleum, Rosebud, Prairie, Dawson, Wibaux, Fallon, Custer, Carter and Powder River.
Hay Hotline According to the drought committee, areas listed as "extreme" on the U.S. Drought Monitor are fast-tracked for a Secretarial Drought Designation, and therefore eligible for certain Farm Service Agency programs.

In South Dakota, over 75 percent of the state is in some level of drought, while pockets of dryness also exist in Montana and Minnesota.
Pasture and range conditions are estimated on a weekly basis in USDA’s Crop Progress Report.
Figure 2 shows this year’s grazing conditions as a percent of land requiring supplemental feeding.
The result has been that some cattle are coming off grass and moving to feedlots in Nebraska and will continue to do so if grazing conditions warrant.
The northern plains is a key cow-calf producing region of the U.S. and, according to the World Agricultural Outlook Board, as much as 6 percent of the cattle are located in an area affected by drought, figure 3.
Pre-report estimates indicate very large placements during May 2017, in the range of 6.5 to 14 percent higher than a year ago.
This placement number and the weight breakdown of those placements are factors to watch in the May and June numbers to get a feel for the effect of the northern plains drought.
USDA data in May showed imports were 54 percent higher than the previous year, or about 31,400 head.
However, the increase analysts are expecting is closer to 2 million head more cattle placed into feedlots than last year.
Large southern plains placements are going to be driven by economic factors, rather than drought-induced as they are in the northern plains.

Drought worsens in Bismarck, Mandan areas.
Nearly 8 percent of the state, including Bismarck and Mandan, is seeing worsening conditions as the U.S. Drought Monitor’s rating of the area moved today from severe to extreme drought.
On Wednesday, the North Dakota Farmers Union urged U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to open Conservation Reserve Program acres for emergency haying and grazing due to widespread drought.
“Feed supplies are deteriorating fast, hay is in short supply due to last year’s harsh winter, and ranchers are facing the difficult decision of whether to downsize their herd.
It is an emergency situation.” The United States Drought Monitor places all of North Dakota in at least abnormally dry conditions.
Parts of Southwest North Dakota also are experiencing extreme drought conditions along with portions of Divide and Williams counties in the northwest corner of the state.
On Saturday, Bismarck received .4 inches of rain, according to Weather Underground records.
“It’s going to be cool and breezy this weekend … borderline unpleasant to those accustomed to the hot weather we typically see this time of the year," he said.
“This roundtable is an opportunity for producers, ag groups and agencies to discuss the current drought situation in North Dakota and the options available to producers,” Goehring said.
“Topics will include the status of the drought, forage quality and livestock management strategies, crop insurance forage options and the Farm Service Agency process to access Conservation Reserve Program acres for emergency haying and grazing.” Kevin Sedivic, rangeland specialist for North Dakota State University Extension Carl Dahlen, animal scientist for NDSU Extension Shad Weber, senior risk management specialist for the United States Department of Agriculture Brad Olson, manager of the North Dakota Farm Service Agency Conservation Program

None of the state was in that category a week ago.
Another 18 percent of the state is rated in severe drought, and 31 percent is in moderate drought.
The areas of extreme and severe drought are in north central south Dakota.
Drought conditions are harming crops and also have prompted many ranchers to sell off cattle.
Gov.
Dennis Daugaard last week issued an emergency declaration easing hay and transportation restrictions.
Rain and hail fell over parts of South Dakota Wednesday and early Thursday.
Storms caused extensive damage to a senior living facility in Castlewood, about 15 miles southeast of Watertown.
KELO-TVreports the Castlewood Assisted Living facility was evacuated when hail and strong winds moved through the area Wednesday night.
The storm temporarily knocked out power in the area.

Butte County declares drought emergency.
BELLE FOURCHE — The Butte County Commission declared Tuesday that current drought conditions have created a natural disaster within the county.
Melissa Smith, a hydrologist with the weather service, said that over the last 60 days, the Belle Fourche and Spearfish areas have gotten approximately three inches less than average amounts of precipitation for this time of year.
As you go north and east into the state, Smith said, the drought conditions worsen substantially.
“The worst part of the state right now is north-central South Dakota and up into North Dakota,” she said.
The lack of consistent precipitation has resulted in the lack of rainwater runoff and caused livestock ponds, dams, and natural water holes to become severely depleted and abnormally low subsoil moisture, resulting in widespread crop losses.
Drought conditions have had a detrimental effect on the production capabilities of the agricultural industry, which, in turn, severely affects the local economy.
According to the most recent scale released Thursday, 83.68 percent of the state is under a D0-D4 rating, up from 46.97 percent at this time, last year.
Most of Butte County is currently under a D0 rating, indicating abnormally dry conditions, with the exception of the southeast corner of Butte County, which is under a D1 rating, designating moderate drought conditions.
Through the rest of June and into early July, the National Weather Service is forecasting persistent above-average temperatures and below average-precipitation.

On California, the drought and the ‘yuck factor’.
David Sedlak: Our water systems bring water into our cities from great distances, and that means we need lots of infrastructure — dams, reservoirs, treatment plants and pipes.
Are these water recycling systems already being used in the state?
There are several of these advanced treatment plants in California.
It’s likely they’ll have a potable recycling project up and running in the coming decade.
The constructed wetlands that we’ve spent the most time studying is a system in Riverside County on the Santa Ana River called the Prado Wetlands.
We’re currently in the process of conducting experiments in support of several different types of wetland treatment systems that are being considered in the Bay Area.
Will climate change affect the country’s water supply?
What I’m happy to see is the state of California is using the drought as a reason to think about the future.
But very few people currently own them in California.

Unfortunately, little or no rain fell on most of the northern third of the High Plains and southern Plains, drying out conditions in Texas and Oklahoma and worsening the flash drought in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas.
In the Southwest, although June is climatologically dry and warm, extreme heat late in the period, subnormal precipitation during the past 60-days, and some impacts was enough to expand D0 in Utah, central Arizona, and southern New Mexico.
On Hawaii’s Big Island, some deterioration was made as field reports indicated worse conditions than expected while scattered showers in southwestern Alaska were not enough to improve low stream flow levels, thus D0 and D1 was slightly expanded there.
Northeast Scattered showers and thunderstorms (1-3 inches) associated with a cold front finally fell on the last day of the period after a relatively dry and warm June 13-18.
In northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama, moderate to heavy (2-3 inches) rains along the southern edges of the D0-D1 area were enough to trim away some of the drought and dryness; however, northern sections recorded under an inch, and D0 slightly expanded into extreme southern Tennessee with 60-day deficiencies of 2-4 inches.
Some areas in the South did see moderate to heavy (1.5-4 inches) rains (eastern sections of Kansas and Oklahoma, northeastern Texas, southern and central Mississippi, and west-central Tennessee), and this resulted in some D0 removal in southeastern Kansas, northeastern and southeastern Oklahoma, and northeastern Texas.
Moderate to heavy rains (1.5-3 inches) also fell on northern Minnesota (see High Plains), improving some of the D0-D1 by 1-category as April 1-June 20 precipitation was close to or above normal in all but the northwestern section.
High Plains While significant rains (1.5-3 inches) fell across northern and eastern North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota, and northern Minnesota (see Midwest) and provided some relief, little or no rain worsened conditions across eastern Montana, western and southern North Dakota, and the western half of South Dakota.
With May-July normally the wettest time of the year in the northern High Plains (some areas typically receive half to two-thirds of their ANNUAL precipitation), a lack of adequate late spring and early summer rainfall can impact the region for the rest of the year.
Similar to northeastern Montana, southwestern North Dakota and northern South Dakota have seen the lowest precipitation as compared to normal since April, with deficits of 3-6 inches at 60-days and 4-8 inches at 6-months.

BREAKING: Amazing change in Florida’s drought in just 3 weeks.
With more than double the normal rainfall so far this month, where does Florida’s drought stand?
It’s completely wiped out.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor report released this morning, there is no drought in Florida, although about 15 percent of the state is still considered “abnormally dry.” That’s compared to less than a month ago when the South Florida Water Management District was closing locks on Lake Okeechobee because of extreme drought plaguing the state.
Water managers compared the volume of rain the first week of June in South Florida to a tropical storm, forcing them to quickly shift gears from dry season conservation to emergency dispersal .
“It’s not typical that we go from a situation where we are trying to hang on to every drop of water that falls out of the sky to opening up everything with maximum discharges,” said Tommy Strowd, director of operations for the Lake Worth Drainage District.
“It just doesn’t happen very often.” Lake Okeechobee today stands at 12.23 feet, just below the comfort level of the Army Corps of Engineers, which likes to keep it between 12.5 and 15.5 feet above sea level.
Check The Palm Beach Post radar map.
This month, the 16-county region overseen by the district received more than 13 inches of rain – about 8 inches above what’s normal for this time of year.
Coastal Palm Beach County got 12.3 inches, which is 7 inches higher than normal.