Forecast: manmade drought to continue (video)

Associated Press (ap.org); Crystal Quintero, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Sandbars fill the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque, N.M. Forecasters said April 23, 2018, that drought conditions across southwestern states are contributing to a wildfire threat.

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After brief relief, forecasts indicate drought will continue

Dry weather will prolong the wildfire threat through summer in the Southwestern US, even though weekend showers temporarily relieved drought conditions in parts of the area, forecasters said today.

The drought is rooted in a dry spell that began in October and is considered "extreme" from southern California to central Kansas.

Conditions are even worse in the Four Corners region and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, warranting their description as "exceptional."

"The proverbial spigot shut off," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. "Drought isn't necessarily a signal for wildfires, but it can exacerbate the conditions that do take place." More