Friday, June 20, 2014

Parts Of Southeast Colorado Drier Than The Dust Bowl

Parts of Southeast Colorado are experiencing a longer period of drought than the dry times that occurred during the Dust Bowl. According to Nolan Doesken, the state climatologist, the past three years and eight months have been the driest stretch ever recorded for some parts of the state, including Rocky Ford, La Junta and Ordway. "It was drier than the worst consecutive drought period of the 30s and of the 50s," said Doesken. Rocky Ford has gotten just 19.7 inches since October 2010, according to the state climatologist. While this is a serious dry spell, there were more prolonged droughts in the 1930s and 1970s – it's just that they were interspersed with some rainfall relief, which much of the southeastern part of the state hasn't seen over three and a half years. Recent spring rains have brought some relief to parts of the region, but the rainfall has been spotty, said Doesken. This means some towns ended their driest period on record in March, but a few are still as parched as they have ever been...more

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