Mississippi At All-Time Record Low From IL To LA; Dozens Of Tributaries Also At/Near Record Lows

[hatrack]

Photos and satellite imagery from the central United States show how the region’s worst drought in at least a decade has pushed the Mississippi River and its tributaries to drop to record lows this month. Across the river basin, dozens of gauges have fallen below their low-water threshold. The Mississippi River was at historically low levels from Illinois to Louisiana this week, and many of these gauges will continue to see decreasing water levels as the forecast remains stubbornly dry.

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Drought expanded again this week across the Midwest and South, according to the US Drought Monitor. Half of the contiguous US is covered by moderate or worse drought conditions – the third-highest value of the year so far and the highest since March. More than 134 million people are affected by drought conditions, the monitor reports, which is the highest percent population since 2016.

The Midwest has seen the worst deterioration, with the amount of area covered in drought increasing by an area of about 60,000 square miles, which is equivalent to the size of Georgia.



EDIT

Several inches of rain are possible over the next week in the central US, according to the National Weather Service, which could provide some relief, particularly for the Mississippi River’s tributaries. But the longterm outlook is drier than average. The seasonal drought outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls for the region’s drought to persist through January.

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The Platte River near Kearney, Nebraska, was just over two feet this week, only around a foot above the record-low level of 0.92 feet in July 2012.

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Drought conditions cover 98% of Nebraska and more than 40% is in the worst two categories, according to the US Drought Monitor. The state's drought has pushed the Platte River in some locations to near-record lows.

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https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/22/weather/mississippi-river-low-level-drought-climate/index.html

[Chainfire]

1. Since half the country has denied climate change and refused to do anything to slow it,

now we have twice as hard a job of trying to reverse it. It is probably a losing proposition at this point. It ain't like we weren't warned...

[Kaleva]

2. That could take grnerations

Some greenhouse gases, like CO2, can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years

[hatrack]

4. 2,000-3,000 years for all of a given quantity of C to be removed by natural processes

.

[NickB79]

3. Southern Minnesota today had dust storms

Between nearly 80F temps, 40 mph winds, and farmers harvesting and plowing their fields, there were black clouds of soil rolling across roads today.