No relief from drought through fall
This is a big, nasty drought we are having. Towns are running out of water. Farmers, desperate for water, are pumping ever deeper into aquifers. Businesses involved in recreation, like fishing and boating, are hurting badly. Parched forests catch fire.
Sweltering heat and scant rainfall are forecast for large swaths of the United States through the summer and into fall, potentially worsening a severe drought already affecting half of the nation, U.S. government weather experts said on Thursday.
Half of the nation is now experiencing a drought ranging from moderate to extreme. Hardest hit have been the Plains states, the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast little relief to the oppressive hot and dry weather for the next three months.