A Really Long, Hot Summer.La Nina--the sister of El Nino--has come calling across the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. this year, and farmers and fire-fighters wish she would leave town soon. La Nina La Niña n. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns. , which brought most of the United States its mildest winter on record in 1999-2000, is a pool of cool water in the Pacific ocean. It affects the jet stream so that the spring thunderstorms thunderstorms a storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; identified as agents of animal disease because of their involvement causing (1) spasmodic colic; (2) lightning strike; (3) injuries of cattle acquired in stampedes initiated by storms. that usually bathe Southern states Southern States U.S. Confederacy government of 11 Southern states that left the Union in 1860. [Am. Hist.: EB, III: 73] Dixie popular name for Southern states in U.S. and for song. [Am. Hist. and the upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region of the United States with no universally agreed-upon boundary, but it almost always lies within the US Census Bureau's definition of the Midwest and includes the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as at least the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. are raining on someone else. The weather and drought patterns in 2000 are expected to mimic the most costly weather disaster in U.S. history, the 1988 drought that resulted in $40 billion in losses. Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have enacted substantial aid packages for farmers. Some states--such as New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). and Nebraska--are enacting permanent drought preparedness programs. Representative Joe Stell, a rancher in southern New Mexico, said his district has received only 7 to 8 inches of rain each year for the last three years--about one-third less than normal. Some ranchers, he said, may be forced out of business and that also will affect the economies of surrounding communities. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Water Survey Division reports the rainfall deficits since July 1999 are similar to the early stages of historic droughts. Dry soil conditions in central and northern Illinois indicate that there are no water reserves for crops. In Nebraska, dry pasture for cattle feed remains a concern, as well as the potential for grass fires. Major wildfires have been especially serious this year. New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson signed a state emergency declaration May 8 after flying over a wind-whipped wildfire near Ruidoso that had swept across more than 5,000 acres. At last report the out-of-control burn that devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. Los Alamos, N.M., in mid-May destroyed 47,000 acres and caused more than a $1 billion in damage. In Colorado more than 20,000 acres burned in June. Nationwide, by mid-March, wild-fires had burned 208,000 acres of trees and brush--more than four times the comparable losses in 1999. Wildfires also have been in central and south Florida as a result of cool, dry weather that has wicked the moisture from the soil. Since January, more than 2,000 fires have burned more than 52,500 acres of timber, scrub and dried-out wetlands. |
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