How Bad Is Alabama Drought? 25-Inch Rainfall Deficit

Entrenched droughts in the West, Southeast and Plains worsened overall this week, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, released this morning.

In Alabama, there was little relief from a 25-inch rain deficit this year, and the state remained ground zero for an intense southeast drought. While the huge expanse of dryness across the eastern half of the country receded in at least two places -- New York and Mississippi, parts of Alabama have received only half as much rain as usual by this time of year. Even with rains in Mississippi, parts of that state remained 5 to 15 inches behind its normal precipitation pace.

"A large swath from western Florida to Tennessee and the southwestern tip of North Carolina was 15 to 20 inches below normal," according to the report. Continued heat and dry conditions contributed to dozens of wildfires, with most centered on Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana -- where Missoula set a record for a heat wave with nine consecutive days above 100 degrees (the previous record of six days was set in 1936).

Bozeman, Montana broke its record-high temperature of 103 degrees -- on six different occasions this month. Relief came to Washington and Oregon, where rainfall was unusually heavy. In South Dakota and north central Nebraska, drought conditions spread -- connecting a band of abnormally dry conditions from the Southwest to the Great Lakes, where Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota farm conditions are significantly damaged.

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