‘Flash Droughts’ Are the Midwest’s Next Big Climate Threat

This story was originally published on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Farmers in Oklahoma take advantage of the rainy season in September to plant winter wheat. Many were caught off guard by the dry weather last year. In just three weeks, nearly three-quarters of the state began experiencing dry conditions.

As climate change pushes temperatures to new extremes, it's more likely that there will be more long-term droughts like this one that farmers in the US already face. These dry periods can happen in as little as five days and can be devastating for agricultural areas that aren't prepared for them.

Jonathan Conder, a weatherman for a local news station in Oklahoma City, was amazed at the severity of the event. While temperatures in southwestern Oklahoma climbed into the triple digits, the second-largest city in the state went 80 days without any rain.

Conder said during his broadcast on October 1 that this is huge for Oklahoma.

The US Drought Monitor uses data on soil, streamflow, and precipitation to determine the severity of a situation. While typical droughts develop over months as precipitation gradually declines, flash droughts are characterized by a steep drop in rainfall, along with high temperatures and fast winds that quickly dry out the soil. They can delay or diminish the harvest.

According to a recent study published in Nature Communications, flash droughts are coming on faster and are more damaging. In the last 20 years, the percentage of flash droughts in the Central United States has increased by more than 20 percent.

Zong-Liang Yang, a geosciences professor at the University of Texas and one of the study's authors, said there should be more attention paid to this phenomenon.

Climate change poses a threat to the cash crops of the Midwest and Great Plains, which include corn, wheat, and soybeans. The term flash droughts has only been used in the past couple of decades.

Across the US, the increase in their severity and frequency is being felt. In the middle of the 2012 growing season, a flash dry in the Central US caused an estimated $31.2 billion in crop losses. The 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217