At present, Utah is the most drought-stricken state in the nation. Upward of 62 percent of the state is engulfed in “exceptional drought,” the most severe category. The federal government’s U.S. Drought Monitor reports that irrigation water allotments are being cut and that fire restrictions are being tightened. Last year, Utah and Colorado experienced significant wildfire activity.
The ground in Utah is parched, with soil moisture deficits running upward of five inches in places. Salt Lake City could hit 100 degrees on Friday afternoon, a record. An excessive-heat warning is in effect for the city, and areas south and west are under red flag warnings for extreme fire danger. [snip]
According to Glen Merrill, the hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, roughly 95 percent of the state’s water comes from melting snowpack in the higher elevations. He explained that reduced snow cover produced less meltwater, which was quickly absorbed by parched soils.
“It didn’t make it into the channels and streams,” Merrill said. “The forecast for [stream] volume through July is about 25 to 40 percent of normal.”
Merrill said the drought came on quickly in 2019 and intensified last summer, spreading south to north and engulfing the state.
“[The drought] even spread all the way into the beginning of our cool season [in 2020],” he said. “It’s rare to see that. Right now, 100 percent of the state is in some sort of drought.”
Looking ahead, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting that unusually hot and dry conditions will persist through the summer. Utah is just entering the peak of its driest period of the year, which lasts into July.
The bigger problem (or, "the Republican answer to every problem"):
“I fear [existing] efforts alone won’t be enough to protect us,” [Utah Republican Gov. Spencer] Cox said in a video statement posted to Twitter. “We need more rain, and we need it now. … It’s why I’m asking Utahns of all faiths to join me in a weekend of prayer.”
So, added to praying away gun violence, praying away the gay, and praying for the "reinstatement" of Jeebus Trump on a celestial cloud, praying for rain is now part of the Republican playbook for addressing climate change. While you're at it, don't forget to pray away the wildfires that are coming!
Conclusion: These people are perfectly normal, and we can totes "bipartisan" with them!
(Photo: "A houseboat on Lake Powell, seen on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, highlights
the 140-foot difference between today's lake level and the lake's
high-water mark."/ Rick Egan/ The Salt Lake Tribune)
