'Flash droughts' are Midwest's next big climate threat
Flash droughts are Midwests next big climate threat
New research shows that dry weather is coming on more quickly than before, with little advance warning.
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Grist) September in Oklahoma is typically a rainy season, when farmers take advantage of the states third-wettest month to plant winter wheat. But last year, many were caught off guard by abnormally dry weather that descended without warning. In the span of just three weeks, nearly three-quarters of the state began experiencing drought conditions, ranging from moderate to extreme.
Fast-moving droughts like this one are developing more and more quickly as climate change pushes temperatures to new extremes, recent research indicates adding a new threat to the dangers of pests, flooding, and more long-term drought that farmers in the U.S. already face. Known as flash droughts, these dry periods can materialize in as quickly as five days, often devastating agricultural areas that arent prepared for them.
During last years drought in Oklahoma, Jonathan Conder, a meteorologist for a local news station in Oklahoma City, marveled at the speed and severity of the event. Tulsa, the states second-largest city, went 80 days without more than a quarter-inch of rain, while temperatures in southwestern Oklahoma climbed into the triple digits.
This is huge for Oklahoma, Conder said during his broadcast on October 1. Our agricultural community, the farmers who plant wheat, they may not even be able to plant if they dont get two inches of rain. .............(more)
https://grist.org/agriculture/flash-droughts-are-midwests-next-big-climate-threat/