Texas farmers, ranchers lose billions to 2024 weather disasters

The total incurred damages in Texas was over $3.4 billion.

Drought and excessive heat contributed to more than 66% of Texas’ losses. The most severe drought impacts occurred between June and September.

Texas cotton farmers saw $1.8 billion in losses, and there was a loss of $768 million in forage and rangeland damage and $257 million in wheat losses from drought.

Early in 2024, the Smokehouse Creek Fire caused $123 million in losses, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. It was the largest wildfire in Texas and burned more than 1.2 million of acres in the Panhandle.

#Texas #drought #weather #cotton #fire #agriculture

https://texasfarmbureau.org/texas-farmers-ranchers-lose-billions-to-2024-weather-disasters/

“The Anglos brought in pumps and motors. They think they can do better than all these poor people who’ve been here 20,000 years.”

From the archives in 2022: A century of enterprise and overuse has brought this historic river to the brink. https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-water-drifting-toward-disaster/

The Growing Impact of ENSO on U.S. Extreme Drought and Flood Events

Extreme hydroclimate events, such as droughts, floods, and heavy rainfall, account for a substantial portion of weather-related disasters in the United States, leading to significant socio-economic losses involving agriculture, water resources, and public health, among others.

#ENSO #drought #flood #weather

https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/the-growing-impact-of-enso-on-u-s-extreme-drought-and-flood-events/

Drought conditions have been worsening in the Southern Plains. Oklahoma has been experiencing wildfires, with four people killed and at least 200 injured this week. Some wildfires are also burning in adjacent areas of southern Kansas and the northern Texas Panhandle. (1/2)

Extreme weather last year including typhoons, heat waves and flooding led to the biggest displacement of people since 2008, and exacerbated a food crisis in more than a dozen countries, according to a report. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/03/19/climate-change/extreme-weather-2024-16-years/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #environment #climatechange #climatechange #drought #floods #typhoons #heatwaves

This week’s CMOR photo is from Bedford County, Tennessee.

“Ponds are dried up. Having to do city water at barn and creeks are low.”

Submit your photos: https://go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

We hiked down Blue Dot and up Red Dot yesterday, with detours to some of the best petroglyphs. The springs still have water and the little waterfall was lovely, though I can't imagine where it's coming from given the lack of rain in the past year.

The Lincoln National Forest and the village of Cloudcroft, New Mexico implemented stage 2 fire restrictions on Tuesday, 11 Mar.

https://www.cloudcroftreader.com/p/lowering-fire-risk-the-village-enters

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lincoln/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1229081

This is a continuation of trends noted in these earlier toots/posts:

https://universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/114147325365341366

https://universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/114133274913054453

https://universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/114101469680724481

Drought intensified across parts of the central and western U.S. in February.

Read more in the February drought climate summary: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6dbd676b5a824a14a56b6bfa78380421

#Europe #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #HeatWaves #Drought the only fix is #GetOffFossilFuel #RenewableEnergyTransition
#Alberta #Canada #USA

Woke up to a wintry scene this morning. It's the most #snow we've gotten since, I think, November. Only about an inch deep at most, but better than nothing, and it sure is pretty!

Exclusive: #ArmyCorps knew #Trump order would waste #California #water, memo shows

The #ArmyCorpsOfEngineers colonel responsible for releasing #reservoir water at Trump’s direction knew it wouldn’t reach Southern California as he promised, a memo obtained by The Post shows.

#FactCheck #TrumpLies #Climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #science #drought #agriculture #farms #crops #DrinkingWater #USpol #idiocracy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/03/07/trump-water-release-california-fires/

U.S. Drought Monitor staff preparing for #NOAA disruptions

A climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center says he’s closely following how staffing cuts at #USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could impact work.

#USDM #NDMC #drought

https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/u-s-drought-monitor-staff-preparing-for-noaa-disruptions/

(Update: Sold out of plants as of 1130!) Drought tolerant, native plant sale in Thousand Oaks, California today. 3/1/25

Drought has been spreading and intensifying in much of the Four Corners states since last fall. The area is reporting below-average snowpack levels for the time of year, along with soil moisture and streamflow levels that are well below normal. A snow shortage in Cache Valley could lead to inadequate water supplies for Utah producers in warmer months.

Fire danger is HIGH in the Lincoln National Forest of southern New Mexico.

This is bad for the middle of winter. As springtime approaches, it will only get worse...and windier.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/lincoln

This week’s CMOR photo is from Chilton County, Alabama.

“I have never experienced a January with the ground this dry. We have ponds still 1-2 ft below full pool. Basically no grazing available from the ryegrass we planted. We have fed double the supplemental feed as normal. The soil is usually soggy this season but we are far from that now.”

Submit your photos: https://go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

Degradations occurred in parts of California; the Four Corners states; Texas; the intersection of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas; the Carolinas; and southern Virginia.

Improvements occurred in parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, northern Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, northeast Arkansas and Alabama. Mixed conditions occurred in Tennessee and Florida.

See more change maps: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/ChangeMaps.aspx

Here is a map with data from the #Drought monitoring project. There are 5 levels of drought with yellow being the lowest. The Los Angeles area is at level 3 - Severe drought.

Here is a link to the map legend:
https://gis.fema.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Partner/Drought_Current/MapServer/legend

Open #GISsurfer map:
https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?center=38.993865,-98.527449&zoom=4&basemap=USA_basemap&overlay=State_boundary,Drought_monitor&data=https://mappingsupport.com/p2/special_maps/disaster/USA_weather.txt