Scorching temperatures and dry conditions has placed 90 percent of Louisiana in “extreme” or “severe” drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. State climatologist Barry Keim says theres been little to no rain across the state.
“Preliminary data says we had about three point nine inches of rain across Louisiana where by normal would be eight inches for that time period.”
In Louisiana, 50 percent of the state is currently in extreme drought. In extreme drought, trees are stressed, saltwater intrudes into rivers and water pressure is low. Keim says southwestern Louisiana is the driest part of the state.
“The brush fires have broken out. That’s part of western Louisiana. Then there’s D4 class. If things don’t turn around in the next week, we’re going to have a significant chunk of the state in the exceptional drought class.”
The state is 20 inches below our normal amount of rainfall for 2023. The southern parts of the state were abnormally dry but were not in a drought this same week last year. Keim added it would take a lot of rain to make up for the dryness
“Fortunately we haven’t had any tropical activity yet. The one benefit we get is it does help steer the storms away from us but that could change very quickly. So just be smart about it. Keep your eyes on the weather and watch the news.”
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