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Map: See Where the Hawaii Wildfires Spread in MauiKaanapali Hawaii Area of detail Approximate area of fires detected through Thursday MAUI Lahaina Launiupoko Hawaii Kaanapali Area of detail Lahaina MAUI Approximate area of fires detected through Thursday Launiupoko Source: New York Times analysis of NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System data Note: Darker areas indicate a higher confidence of fire activity. Wind-fueled wildfires that tore through the island of Maui in Hawaii on Tuesday and Wednesday have claimed at least 36 lives, forced the evacuation of thousands and decimated Lahaina, a historic tourist town. June 25 Aug. 9 Maxar TechnologiesTourists flock to Hawaii in large part for its tropical landscape and lush forests, but the state has also become increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. The area burned annually by wildfires in Hawaii has quadrupled in recent decades. Invasive grasses that are highly flammable have taken over native vegetation in some areas, and climate change has exacerbated dry and hot conditions that have allowed many wildfires to spread more quickly.

Organizations: New York Times, NASA, Resource Management, Maxar Technologies, U.S . Drought Locations: Hawaii, Maui Kaanapali Hawaii, Lahaina Launiupoko Hawaii Kaanapali, Lahaina MAUI, Maui, Lahaina, Maui County

That includes 2021, 2006 and 2005, where severe drought gripped 18-21% of U.S. corn in late July. U.S. corn in drought July 25This same week in 2006 featured the largest moderate drought expanse in the Corn Belt after 2023 at 46% coverage, followed by 38% in 2005 and 36% in 2021. But it is interesting that corn yields landed close to trend in those five years. Some 4% of spring wheat is in severe drought, the first trace of severe drought since April. North Dakota’s spring wheat yield reached a record 50 bpa in 2022 despite fears that delayed planting would be limiting.

Persons: North, Karen Braun, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Drought Monitor, Agriculture, Reuters, Thomson Locations: NAPERVILLE , Illinois, U.S, North Dakota, North

"Much of the (Midwest) region did not see appreciable rainfall. As of June 20, 58% of the Midwest was in moderate drought or worse, the broadest area since 2012, the Drought Monitor data showed. 2 soybean producer in moderate drought or worse. In Illinois, the largest soy grower and second-largest corn producer, moderate drought or worse spanned 82% of the state. Conditions worsened across the eastern half of the High Plains, with 34% of the region in moderate drought or worse.

Persons: climatologists, Karl Plume, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Drought, Drought, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Chicago, of Trade, USDA, Weather, Thomson Locations: North Dakota, Kansas, U.S, Midwest, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Southern Plains, Chicago

Records date to 2012, when 15% of corn areas were in at least moderate drought by this same week. Percent of U.S. corn in drought, May versus JulyAround the same date in 2014, 2021 and 2022, moderate drought coverage spanned between 20% and 24% of U.S. corn areas. The central Corn Belt, including Iowa and Illinois, was very wet in May 2013 and mid-month corn planting in those states was very slow, though planting was quicker than normal this year. El Nino never formed in 2012, though it did in late 2014, sticking around throughout 2015 and leading into the 2015-16 super El Nino. Strong U.S. corn yields occur more frequently during El Nino versus La Nina, though El Nino does not guarantee that outcome.

But 29% of U.S. corn areas and 21% of soybean areas are in a drought versus 21% and 12% a year ago, respectively. Some 48% of winter wheat areas are experiencing drought versus 68% a year ago, but 16% of it is currently under exceptional drought versus just 3% a year ago. That is despite decent conditions in soft red wheat states in the east. The Drought Monitor shows 64% of Kansas in extreme or worse drought this week, topped only by a stretch from July 2012 to March 2013 in records back to 2000. The latest Drought Monitor stats in the top corn state are almost identical to the same point in 2021, leading into Iowa’s record corn-yielding season.

Another atmospheric river storm brought strong winds, rainfall and flooding to California this week, prompting levee breaches and mudslides and breaking decades-old rainfall records across the state. Only about 36% of California now remains in drought, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday. Since the storms have eased some water supply shortages, the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently lifted water restrictions for nearly 7 million people. The governor noted that widespread damage across the state from the winter storms was an indication of how climate change is triggering worsening weather extremes. The state's emergency agency and private weather forecasters in January estimated that damage from California's winter storms could surpass $1 billion.

☆ Storms bolster California snowpack, ease drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The snowpack is considered California's largest reservoir, and is vital to fill streams and lakes as it slowly melts. The record precipitation and accompanying powerful storms in December and February have also dramatically lessened California's ongoing drought, a team of U.S. government agencies said this week. By contrast, just three months ago the entire state was considered to be experiencing drought conditions. California has cycled through four periods of drought since 2000, making less water available to irrigate crops and sustain wildlife along with meeting the needs of the state's 40 million residents. Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Why California is still in drought despite heavy rain and snow
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Snow blanketed California the last weekend of February, only weeks after it was pummeled by torrential rains. But these historic storms barely made a dent in a daily reality for most Californians — a years-long, expansive drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 99.39% of the state is still abnormally dry or in drought: crops wither, water supplies dwindle, and wildfire risk intensifies as forests dry out. Recent rain has given reservoirs a much-needed boost. Short storms, however strong, are not enough to end California’s drought.

All U.S. winter wheat area is estimated at an eight-year high. Wheat health is better in key soft red winter wheat states like Illinois and Missouri, where GE this week covers 69% and 68% of the crop, respectively. But only 5% of the country’s winter wheat has been sown in these states. Winter wheat at the U.S. level was 34% GE and 26% PVP in the last assessment at the end of November. Hard red spring wheat accounted for 28%, soft white winter 20%, soft red winter 9%, and durum and other wheat accounted for 5% of inspections.

☆ The US Army has been dredging the Mississippi River 24/7 for 6 months. The drought crisis that grounded barges and unearthed fossils may finally be over.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the Mississippi River 24/7 since July. USACE maintains a nine-foot-deep channel down the Mississippi River, so that ships and barges can travel freely. A barge tows cargo down the Mississippi River, in Vicksburg, Mississippi during a historic drought. The National Weather Service predicts the likely removal of drought in much of the Mississippi River basin in February. The National Weather Service's outlook forecasts a likelihood of no drought in most of the Mississippi River basin into spring.

110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Redding Sacramento Sacramento San Francisco San Francisco Fresno Fresno Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego San Diego 110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Redding Sacramento Sacramento San Francisco San Francisco Fresno Fresno Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego San Diego 110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Redding Sacramento Sacramento San Francisco San Francisco Fresno Fresno Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego San Diego 110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Redding Sacramento San Francisco Fresno Los Angeles San Diego Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Sacramento San Francisco Fresno Los Angeles San Diego 110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Redding Sacramento San Francisco Fresno Los Angeles San Diego Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Sacramento San Francisco Fresno Los Angeles San Diego 110 30% 50 70 90 150 200 300 400 Short-term view: Past month Long-term view: Past 3 years Redding Redding Sacramento Sacramento San Francisco San Francisco Fresno Fresno Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego San Diego Source: PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University Note: Data from the past six months is preliminary. California has built its water infrastructure — reservoirs, wells and irrigation systems — in part to account for the imbalanced timing in precipitation. California has a naturally variable climate: Periods of drought are punctuated by periods of wetter weather. A chart shows average snow water equivalent levels for each water year from 2003 through Jan. 17, 2023. Atmospheric rivers don’t always bring more snow; storms can actually shrink the snowpack if precipitation falls as rain instead of snow at high elevations.

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☆ End to storms is near but California braces for two more atmospheric rivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A road sign is seen next to a country highway on agricultural land amid flooding from the Salinas River, in Salinas, California, U.S., January 13, 2023. The latest storm, the season's eighth, is expected to begin dumping heavy rain on California from early on Saturday, the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said. The ninth and final atmospheric river of the series is due to make landfall on Monday and last a couple of days. Among the waterways of concern, the Salinas River in northern California flooded roads and farmland on Friday, when 24,000 people were urged to evacuate. In southern California, officials will release water on Saturday from Lake Cachuma, which provides drinking water near Santa Barbara, as the chronically low lake has filled to capacity.

Friday's storms were the latest in a series of so-called atmospheric rivers that have deluged California since late December. [1/5] A home on agricultural land is seen amid flooding from the Salinas River in Salinas, California, U.S., January 13, 2023. "It's a tremendous amount of water," said Monterey County Chief Public Information Officer Nick Pasculli, describing the slow rise of the Salinas River. Seven such weather systems have already hit the state over the past two weeks. Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California and Nathan Frandino in Salinas, California; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for the next
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At least two more storm systems were set to pound California and the Pacific Northwest starting Friday and over the weekend, the National Weather Service said, including another atmospheric river, systems of dense moisture funneled into California from the tropical Pacific. The state has already been hit with seven such weather systems over the past two weeks. In Monterey County, water from prior storms continued to swell the Salinas River, officials said. The heavy rains have eased California's historic drought but not ended it, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed on Thursday. Even with more atmospheric rivers in the immediate forecast, the state's water system will remained strained in coming years without new infrastructure to capture more storm water, restore flood plains and recycle wastewater.

Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday as a powerful storm expected to bring heavy rain, snow and flooding began its potentially dangerous onslaught. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for several cities in Northern California, including Richmond in the Bay Area and Watsonville in Santa Cruz County. Several communities experiencing some of the biggest downpours were still cleaning up from flooding caused by a storm over the weekend. While the precipitation appears out-of-character for the drought-stricken state, California would normally expect to see this type of rainfall during an average winter, experts said. April 1 is a typical high point for snowpack in California, where snow melt feeds reservoirs in May and June.

☆ 'Firmageddon': Researchers find 1.1 million acres of dead trees in Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We’re seeing forms of stress in all of our species of trees,” said Christine Buhl, a forest entomologist with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Trained observers peer outside both sides of the plane, looking for noticeable damage to trees. “You definitely have to have a stomach of steel.”This year, the aerial observation program flew over about 69 million acres of Washington and Oregon forest in about 246 hours. Oregon’s average temperatures have risen about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, according to a 2021 state climate assessment delivered to the state’s Legislature. “It was the combination of the high temperatures in the afternoon with the sun boring down,” said Chris Still, a professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

☆ 'Significant storm' to batter west with high winds and heavy snow forecast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A "significant winter storm" will dump heavy snow and make travel dangerous as it makes its way across the west of the country over the weekend, forecasters warned early Saturday. “High winds, heavy snow and heavy precipitation will reach the Pacific Northwest today, then impact California,” the National Weather Service said in a bulletin. More than 5 feet of snow is expected in the Sierra Nevada, resulting in “extremely dangerous travel, especially across mountain passes,” it added. “A winter storm with gale force winds, high intensity snowfall and feet of new snow accumulation may result in widespread avalanche activity in the mountains,” the Forest Service Sierra Avalanche Center said Friday. Elsewhere 1-3 feet of snow are expected across mountain ranges of the west coast, the NWS said.

☆ Parts of the West have double the normal snowpack. Experts say it’s too early to get excited
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

With back-to-back-to-back winter storms across the West, the snowpack is thriving. Parts of the Sierra and the Pacific Northwest are seeing above-average snowpack for this time of year. The drought monitor released some of the numbers Thursday, which showed some of the driest areas in the West with decent snow. They are counting on a good snowpack. More snow expected this weekBoth the Sierra and the Rockies will get hit with more snow this week as multiple storm systems traverse the West.

☆ Forecasters expect a ‘prolonged rainfall event’ across the South this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Haley Brink | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Several days of heavy rain are forecast across portions of the southern US this week, which could improve persisting drought conditions but also lead to significant flooding. “The threat for flooding will start late Monday into early Tuesday for areas south of I-40, especially near the Alabama border,” the National Weather Service office in Nashville, Tennessee said. “If rainfall becomes especially heavy or pockets of heavy rain move across the same areas repeatedly, more significant flash flooding will occur,” the weather service in Nashville warned. Many locations across the southern US could see rain every day this week, including Memphis, according to the weather service. “Flooding may develop, starting early in the week for low lying and flood prone areas, and along small streams,” the weather service in Nashville said.

☆ Microsoft, Meta and others face rising drought risk to their data centers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Data centers generate massive amounts of heat through their servers because of the enormous amount of power they use. "These data centers are set up to operate 20 years, so what is it going to look like in 2040 here, right?" We changed our design to go to zero consumption water, so that we didn't have that sort of risk," said Myers. While companies with their own data centers can do that, so-called co-location data centers that lease to multiple clients are increasingly being bought by private equity firms in search of high-growth real estate. There are currently about ,1800 co-location data centers in the U.S., and that number is growing, as data centers are some of the hottest real estate around, offering big returns to investors.

Extreme fall dryness is more concerning for the U.S. winter wheat crop since there is less recovery time. However, the recent spread of dryness is alarming, as Midwest drought coverage was just 10% in mid-September versus 43% this week. Summer weather was largely supportive, and Nebraska’s 2021 corn yield was an all-time high. Fall of 2003 was one of the driest on record, and the 2004 corn yield was among the most impressive ever. And despite the terribly dry finish to 2012, the 2013 U.S. corn yield was respectable given the circumstances.

☆ U.S. winter wheat farmers plant into dust as Plains drought persists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Julie Ingwersen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CHICAGO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - With planting roughly halfway complete, the 2023 U.S. hard red winter wheat crop is already being hobbled by drought in the heart of the southern Plains, wheat experts said. The drought threatens Kansas, the top winter wheat growing state, and Oklahoma in two ways: discouraging farmers who have not yet planted from trying, while threatening crops already in the ground from developing properly. About two-thirds of wheat in the United States, among the top five global exporters, is grown as a winter crop rather than spring. As a result, Justin Gilpin, chief executive of the Kansas Wheat Commission, expected the number of Kansas wheat acres planted for harvest in 2023 to remain steady with the 7.3 million acres seeded for 2022. A key driver of the drought is the La Nina weather phenomenon, which tends to favor warm and dry conditions in the Plains.

☆ Atmospheric river of moisture will trigger storms and tornadoes this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-11 | by ( Jennifer Gray | Cnn Meteorologist | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

(CNN) You may have heard of atmospheric rivers impacting the West Coast. Apparently, atmospheric rivers also occur in the eastern US, unleashing a river of moisture like what we will see this week. The reason East Coast atmospheric rivers aren't talked about much isn't because they are rare. The West gets about half that number of atmospheric rivers each year, yet they account for double the annual rainfall percentage. It will combine with the available moisture provided by the atmospheric river we talked about and will result in the perfect setup for severe weather.

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