the drought in the Southwest is expected to move and expand eastward over the central and southern Great Plains, as well as at least the western Midwest, by late June or July.
(PRWEB) May 22, 2013
Harris-Mann Climatology’s annual summer outlook indicates a very good chance of drought conditions returning to the U.S. Great Plains and at least the western Midwest within the next four to six weeks.
According to meteorologist Randy Mann, “Sea-surface temperatures in the south-central Pacific Ocean are cooling down. Since late 2012, ocean waters were in a ‘La Nada’ or in-between the warmer El Nino and cooler La Nina sea-surface temperature event. However, a new cooler La Nina may be declared within a matter of weeks. A new La Nina often leads to drier and warmer than normal weather east of the Rockies during the spring and summer seasons, as was the case in 2012.”
The drought pattern of 2012 in the central U.S. was compared to the devastating droughts of the 1930s ‘Dust Bowl’ era and was also as severe as dry periods of the 1950s. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, severe to extreme drought conditions still persist from South Dakota southward into eastern Colorado and down into northern Texas. The southwestern U.S. has also been experiencing drought conditions with not much rain in sight.
Long-term climatologist and forecaster Cliff Harris says, “The drought in the Southwest is expected to move and expand eastward over the central and southern Great Plains, as well as at least the western Midwest, by late June or July. Flooded areas near the Missouri River are likely to turn to the opposite extreme of dryness later this summer season."
Harris-Mann Climatology predicts this current drought pattern may be the costliest U.S. natural disaster of 2012 and 2013 as damage estimates could be near $200 billion, even more costly than Hurricane Sandy.
Harris-Mann Climatology also has a daily advisory service that specializes in providing state-of-the-art short and long-range weather analysis plus fundamental and technical mathematical stock and commodity forecasts. Many investors depend on this service to track grain, soybean and other commodity futures both mathematically and fundamentally. The company also provides free detailed monthly temperature and precipitation forecasts for most U.S. and world cities on their website at http://www.LongRangeWeather.com.
“We’re still in a pattern of wild weather ‘extremes,’ the worst in more than 1,000 years, since the days of Leif Ericsson. For example, 2012 was the warmest year ever for the U.S., but on January 22, 2013, there was a record for the most ice and snow across the Northern Hemisphere continent,” according to Harris.
For more detailed information about Harris-Mann Climatology’s services, go to their website at http://www.LongRangeWeather.com.