Friday October 21, 2022
E & E News —
Western states gripped by persistent drought are unlikely to see any relief in the coming months, as a third year of La Niña weather patterns reduces precipitation in that region, NOAA scientists predicted Thursday.
According to the agency’s 2022-23 Winter Outlook, below-average rainfall and snowpack are expected in a wide stretch of the United States including Southern California, the Southwest, the southern Rockies, the southern Plains, the Gulf Coast and much of the South.
“We’re going on our third year of this extreme drought for much of the western U.S., with the extreme drought currently focused over much of California, the Great Basin and also extending northward into parts of Oregon,” said Brad Pugh with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
Below-normal precipitation could also continue to be a problem for the Mississippi River, as low water levels have slowed barge traffic and threatened municipal water supplies (Greenwire, Oct. 5).