The 2017 Northern Plains drought hit hard and without warning, desiccating pastures, rangelands and wheat, sparking massive wildfires, and causing widespread livestock sell-offs across the Dakotas, northeastern Montana and the Canadian Prairies.
The 2017 Northern Plains drought hit hard and without warning, desiccating pastures, rangelands and wheat, sparking massive wildfires, and causing widespread livestock sell-offs across the Dakotas, northeastern Montana and the Canadian Prairies. Three months after its onset, the drought was relieved by soaking September rains, but not before it inflicted $2.6 billion in economic losses on the region.
A new report by NOAA and CIRES scientists pins the cause of the drought on failed spring rains and hot temperatures that super-charged the rapid loss of soil moisture. The report, The Causes, Predictability, and Historical Context of the 2017 U.S. Northern Great Plains Drought, found that while the 2017 drought was considerably shorter than the Dust Bowl or other significant 20th century droughts, aridification due to climate change will make droughts of similar intensity 20 percent more likely than in the past.
NOAA research meteorologist Andy Hoell, one of the report’s authors, said some aspects of the drought were unprecedented in weather records that date to the late 1800s.
“The failed rains and high temperatures conspired to produce a tremendous decrease in soil moisture during one of the worst possible times for agriculture,” he said.
Continue reading at NOAA.
Image via NOAA.
