NOAA sees little relief from West drought

LOS ANGELES, March 20 (UPI) -- This winter's weak El Nino provided some rain for the parched western United States, although not enough to break a stubborn drought that has gripped much of the region since the late 1990s.

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that while spring would bring with it the threat of flooding in the East and South, the West appeared to be in store for another dry summer with drought conditions stretching from the Pacific Coast east into the upper Midwest and Great Plains.

"We can say goodbye to El Nino in the next month or so," said NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher. "Depending on where you live or play, you're either thankful for the drought-busting Eastern rains and snow, or disappointed by the lack of Western snow pack."

While the East Coast and Midwest were repeatedly socked by blizzards this winter, needed precipitation in many Western states was again relatively scarce. That's conjured up new concerns about the potential for disastrous wildfires this summer along with stunted crops and continuing competition for water between farmers and wildlife advocates -- with government regulators and politicians caught in the middle.

"During this past winter, drought persisted in many of the same areas of the Western U.S. that have experienced drought for three or more years, with many areas still requiring unusually heavy precipitation to end the long-term drought by summer's end," said Tom Karl, director of the NOAA National Climate Data Center.

The heavy snows and thick river ice in the East and Northeast could lead to flooding during the spring thaw, NOAA said, while a recent period of heavy rain in Texas and the South will extend the threat of flooding well into spring.

"The winter weather pattern has given us the tale of two regions," Lautenbacher observed. "With snow pack levels below normal, the multi-year drought in the West will linger through spring. The East reversed its fortunes going from widespread drought to having many areas that are much wetter than normal."

Unlike the rest of the nation, the West must get the lion's share of its water during the winter, primarily from the snow packs in the mountains. The summer months see very little rain, if any.

The dry season forces Westerners to rely on irrigation for crops and dries out mountain forests making them more susceptible to disease and fire.

The National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise said in its March 7 outlook for the coming fire season that drought-stressed trees and brush were already becoming more prevalent in the higher elevations of the Western forests.

"These are likely to cause extreme fire behavior even under moderate fire weather conditions," the report said.