Since the U.S. Drought Monitor was created nearly two decades ago, it has provided weekly data sets on the prevalence of drought within the United States. According to a new report, drought conditions in the U.S. have substantially improved, as the rate of drought in the country has fallen to about 6.1% within the lower 48 states. That is the lowest it has been in about 17 years!
As GoodNewNetwork points out, the previous record-low from the federal organization was reported in July 2010, with 7.7% drought. The highest amount of drought recorded was in September of 2012, with a drought percentage of 65.5%.
What this news means is that California’s debilitating years-long drought has essentially come to an end. Only 40% of the state was drought-stricken in January, compared to 8% in April of 2017. Undoubtedly, this is an effect of Northern California receiving an abundance of rainfall in snow this year. Though southern California is still technically in a drought, the conditions are expected to be less harsh due to the relieving weather conditions.
A state of drought emergency was declared by California Governor Jerry Brown in 2014. Now that the nationwide drought is at a record-low, the politician is expected to elaborate on the state’s condition in the near future.
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