The lack of rain now has become so severe that the effects are far reaching. It seems every time there is a shower or thundershower, it skirts the area. Seems there is not enough moisture at lower layers of the atmosphere to support already developed thundershowers. They mostly fizzle out and dry up before reaching the central portion of Newton County. There is practically no morning fog; maybe only the day after someone closely gets a shower. Occasionally there is dew; but this week the dew points have dropped and it is hard to come by. Add to this the current dry windy and extreme heat, we have a really dangerous fire situation.
The forecast does not look good; a tropical storm that moves out of the gulf up into Arkansas may be out real hope between now and mid-September. We are getting close to eclipsing the 1953 drought and pushing ever closer to the 1930’s dust bowl years.
seasonal drought analysis
Arkansas drought index
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