No End to Western Drought in Sight - NOAA

June 27, 2002

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cold front will bring rain showers to crops in the Midwest and South this weekend while Western firefighters face more hot and dry weather as they battle raging wildfires, U.S. government forecasters said Thursday.

In its weekly U.S. drought report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said abnormally dry conditions spread eastward into southeastern Nebraska, southwestern Iowa, northwestern Missouri and northeastern Iowa.

However, drought eased along the East Coast with the worst conditions now concentrated from Georgia to Virginia.

This weekend, a cold front will slowly move through the Midwest and East, NOAA forecasters said.

"This should trigger widespread showers and thunderstorms, and bring light to moderate rains to much of the South, from the southern Plains east into the Carolinas," NOAA said. "Cooler weather will cover the South and East, especially this weekend."

The weekend forecast offered no relief for Western states where hot, parched conditions have fueled forest fires.

"A strong ridge of high pressure should encompass much of the West, producing dry and hot weather, especially in the northern Rockies and Plains," NOAA said.

According to NOAA's classification scale, "exceptional drought" now exist in portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

Those areas failed to get much rain during their normal wet season during the winter. For example, Flagstaff, Arizona, received just over 1 inch of rain between January and June this year, compared to typical rainfall of nearly 10 inches.

The danger of wildfire remained "very high to extreme" in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, NOAA said. Currently that area has 19 large wildfires affecting nearly 645,000 acres, including the Chediski fire in eastern Arizona and the Hayman fire in Colorado.

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