Downpours this summer have felt like a zero-sum game. If someone’s getting a deluge, someone else in another part of the country is going another day without a drop of much-needed rainfall. Drought conditions across the United States have worsened throughout the summer, culminating in more than half the country experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions by the end of August. The latest update of the United States Drought Monitor shows that more than half of the country—nearly 56
percent—is abnormally dry or mired in a full-on drought. More than a third of the country is experiencing drought conditions, and almost eight percent is in an extreme or exceptional drought. Tuesday’s drought map shows a stark contrast between the west and the east. Abnormally dry or drought conditions show up sporadically east of the Mississippi River, while most land along and west of the Rocky Mountains is dealing with some level of worse-than-normal dryness. READ MORE
