The U.S. experienced a significant recovery from the major 2012 drought on a national scale during 2013, while a notable feature of 2014 was a resurgence of drought at the start of the year. The national drought area expanded during spring 2014, but was followed by a contraction later in the year. In the bigger picture, 2014 follows a trend of national recovery from the major drought of 2012.
Picture Of The Month November 2014
On a month-by-month basis, 2014 was characterized by large areas of dry weather which were more than counterbalanced by large areas of wet weather. Three months (January, February, and June) had ten percent or more of the country experiencing very dry precipitation anomalies (at the tenth percentile of the historical record or drier), while four (April, June, August, and September) had ten percent or more of the country experiencing very wet anomalies (monthly precipitation totals at the 90th percentile of the historical record or wetter). One month (January) had more than a fourth (25 percent) of the country very dry, while one (August) had more than a fourth of the country very wet. When averaged together, the wet and dry anomalies resulted in the fifth driest January, nationally, in the 1895-2014 record, fifth wettest June, and tenth wettest August.
The 2014 calendar year began with 51.4 percent of the West in moderate to exceptional drought (according to weekly USDM statistics). The percent area expanded to 64.5 percent by mid-February, hovered around 60 percent during spring to late summer, and ended the year at 54.5 percent. A similar variation in the percent area over time is seen in monthly statistics based on the Palmer Drought Index. The year began with 35.7 percent of the West in moderate to extreme drought, with the area expanding to 69.2 percent by the end of June, and shrinking to 29.5 percent by the end of the year.
The early drought expansion occurred because the West started the 2013-2014 hydrologic year (water year, October 2013-September 2014) on a very dry note, with the dryness centered in California to southern Oregon and extending across the Pacific Northwest and into northern Nevada. The West region (California-Nevada) had the 22nd driest October, 29th driest November, sixth driest December, and third driest January in the 1895-2014 record. With two of the normally wettest months sixth and third driest, the water year through January 2014 ranked as the driest October-January on record for the West region. The Northwest region (Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) had the ninth driest October, 24th driest November, eighth driest December, and 19th driest January, resulting in the third driest October-January on record. The Southwest region (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) was drier than normal for most months from December 2013 through June 2014, with December 2013-April 2014 and December 2013-June 2014 both ranking sixth driest on record.
Persistent and unusually warm temperatures occurred in the West during 2014, with the West region having the warmest year in the 120-year record. Three states (Arizona, California, and Nevada) logged the warmest year on record, while five others (New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) ranked in the top ten warmest category. By increasing evapotranspiration, the hot temperatures intensified the drought conditions. This was especially true for California, which has suffered through three consecutive hydrologic years with drier than normal conditions. Indeed, six of the last eight hydrologic years have been drier than normal for California. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) integrates the effects of both drier and warmer than normal conditions. When the unusual warmth in California during the last three decades is combined with the excessive dryness of the last several years, the statewide SPEI reaches record low levels, both for the 12-month time scale (August 2013-July 2014) and the 36-month time scale (August 2011-July 2014).
Drought expanded in the Great Plains during spring 2014 but above-normal rainfall during the summer caused it to contract. At its peak, 35.9 percent of the High Plains (Central to Northern Plains) and 54.4 percent of the Southern Plains were in moderate to exceptional drought in early May. Kansas had the third driest and Oklahoma the eleventh driest March-May during 2014. The first five months of 2014 were each drier than normal for Oklahoma, with the state ranking third driest for January-May. Texas had the fifth driest January-April. By late fall, abnormal dryness and drought began redeveloping in the Northern Plains. In spite of some wetter-than-normal months during 2014, the year still ended up drier than normal for Oklahoma and Texas. It marked the fourth consecutive drier-than-normal year for Texas, while four of the last five years have been drier than normal for Oklahoma. By the end of the year, 33.9 percent of the Southern Plains was still in moderate to exceptional drought.
Two years ago this week, parts of Western New York were buried with a life-threatening seven feet of snow, while other places got a few inches or none at all. The News asked readers on Facebook to share stories and photos of the November 2014 storms. Conor Deubell of South Buffalo: The attached file is a picture of me, my
In 2014, she shifted the narrative. As hard as people tried to focus on who the lyrics were about, Swift provided a reminder that she's the protagonist in these stories. She became an artist and a renegade who took some risky turns in her love life that she transformed into successful leaps in her music. It was a year of power moves for Swift, in which she backed herself with a rotating but loyal girl gang. If the "best people in life are free," as she sighs at the end of the chorus on her track "New Romantics," then the new, enlightened, unrestrained Swift is one of the greatest out there. Here's a look at her last 12 months. 2ff7e9595c
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