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To: Brumar89 who wrote (76171)	4/14/2017 2:49:31 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 86355

Meteorologist: US Southwest “Permanent” Drought Totally Gone! …US “Now As Good As It Gets”! By P Gosselin on 11. April 2017 What follows is another example climate-scare prediction turned folly. The NOAA’s and the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) National Drought Mitigation Center’s (NDMC) US drought monitor map that follows now shows extraordinarily little drought conditions across the USA, despite earlier predictions of permanent drought and misery over vast regions. Meteorologist Paul Dorian of vencoreweather.com here in fact writes that moisture conditions across the US are now “about as good as it gets“. He reports that “severe”, “extreme” or “exceptional” drought conditions are limited to a puny 1.6% of the continental US. Going back to the year 2000, only February and March of 2010 had similar limited drought conditions on a nationwide basis that we are enjoying today. In fact the news may actually get better with the next drought monitor update as the numbers cited in today’s posting reflect only precipitation data registered through last Tuesday, April 4th and does not include the substantial rainfall that fell late last week in California and across the southern and eastern US. Western US drought conditions from one year ago (left) to current (right); courtesy NOAA/CPC Discussion on current and recent conditions In recent years, much of the western US was suffering through widespread and deep drought conditions, but that has changed dramatically in recent months; especially, in the state of California. One year ago, much of California was in the midst of an “exceptional” drought – the worst category of drought as classified by NOAA – but all of that has changed dramatically this winter season with a tremendous amount of rainfall throughout the state. Today nowhere is California classified by NOAA/NDMC as experiencing “exceptional” (D4) or “extreme” (D3) drought conditions and less than one percent of California is currently experiencing “severe” (D2) drought. Massive Sierra Nevada snowpack Figure right: Sierra Nevada Mountains provide more than 60% of California’s developed water supply In addition to the recent rainfall in California, there has been an extreme amount of snow this winter season in the higher elevations of the Sierra Mountains across eastern California. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada region plays a critical role in California’s water supply as a natural form of water storage. More than 60% of California’s water originates in the Sierra Nevada region. There has actually been so much snow this winter in some of the higher elevation locations that the National Guard has been called out to help with the removal of the snow. Another 3 or 4 feet of fresh snow piled up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Friday of last week in the latest major storm to affect California with significant rain and snow. Now “as good as it gets.” Also much of the south-central and eastern US experienced dry weather during the fall and winter seasons and this led to the declaration by NOAA/NDMC of “abnormally dry” (D0) or “moderate” (D1) drought conditions in many areas. But like California, recent significant rainfall events during a very active weather pattern have improved overall conditions in many regions across the south-central and eastern US. The Palmer drought index shows that drought conditions were extremely widespread and severe in July 1934 during the midst of the “Dust Bowl” era, far worse than what was experienced over the past years. Chart: NOAA The worst heat and drought conditions by far occurred in 1930s Meteorologist Dorian explains that any drought talk of recent years really pales in comparison to what happened in this country during the decade of the 1930’s. In the “The Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck vividly captured the plight of millions of Americans whose lives had been crushed by what is referred to as the “Dust Bowl” era – a time when “climate gas” CO2 levels were far lower. The 1930’s still ranks as the hottest and driest in US recorded history and the “Dust Bowl” was truly a significant event in our national history. The figure on the left shows the annual values of the U.S. Heat Wave Index from 1895 to 2015 for the contiguous 48 states. An index value of 0.2, for example, could mean that 20 percent of the country experienced one heat wave, 10 percent of the country experienced two heat waves, or some other combination of frequency and area resulted in this value. Data source: Kunkel, 2016 (EPA). The above figure on the right shows the number of all-time maximum temperature records at USHCN weather stations that reached extreme heights in 1936 – far and away above any other year. Tens of thousands of “climate refugees” Conditions were so dry in such a widespread part of the country that dust storms formed numerous times in the Central Plains as loose soil turned to dust which the prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that blackened the skies – even as far away as the east coast. The drought came in three waves during this decade, 1934, 1936 and 1939-1940, and tens of thousands of families had to abandon their farms. Dorian summarizes today’s conditions: Yes, these are pretty fortunate times we are currently living through across the US.” See Vencore meteorologist Paul Dorian’s full report here.