Drought

Multiple trees will be removed from San Marcos City Park, due to “drought stress and disease,” according to a Facebook post by the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department. KXAN Online (Austin, Texas), Oct 22, 2023

Wildfire combined with fog northwest of New Orleans, causing zero visibility, which led to a series of pileups that have resulted in at least two deaths. A wildfire that has been smoldering since July flared up, producing more smoke, which mingled with fog to create super fog. FOX Weather (New York), Oct 23, 2023

To extinguish a fire burning in a New Orleans East swamp, the Sewerage & Water Board was pumping water from a drainage canal onto the swamp where the blaze has been burning on private land between Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge and the Michoud Canal for at least nine days. The fire was burning in boggy soil, which is hard to extinguish. Smoke from the swamp fire contributed to the multi-vehicle pileups on I-55 on the morning of Oct. 23. Drought dried up the ponds in the swamp, and it was hoped that bringing water back into the swamp would help replenish the ponds. Baton Rouge Advocate (La.), Oct 23, 2023

Wildfires continued to be a problem in Mississippi with more than 1,100 fires sparking since August, due to intense heat and the lack of rain. WAPT Channel 16 Online (Jackson, Miss.), Oct 23, 2023 Since the start of August, the Mississippi Forestry Commission has responded to more than 1,030 fires that have scorched more than 16,000 acres. Low water levels allowed wildfires to reach hardwood river bottoms in parts of the Magnolia State. WJTV TV 12 (Jackson, Miss.), Oct 17, 2023 Mississippi firefighters have responded to more than 760 fires that scorched over 14,163 acres since Aug. 1 as drought provides fuel for fires. WAPT Channel 16 Online (Jackson, Miss.), Sept 27, 2023 Since August, there have been more than 563 wildfires in the state. A massive 400-acre wildfire that began Aug. 26 in Smith County keeps reigniting, so firefighters continue to work on it. Much of Mississippi remains under a burn ban. WAPT Channel 16 Online (Jackson, Miss.), Sept 13, 2023

Hay production in Mississippi was down at least 28% this year, due to drought. Hay growers usually get three cuttings per year, and often four when conditions are right. “This year, you were truly blessed to get maybe two,” according to a Mississippi State University Extension forage agronomist. “A lot of the second cutting was delayed by quite a bit of rain in June and July. We had drought conditions after that, and although growers kept waiting to get a third cutting, the forage never could get going.” WJTV TV 12 (Jackson, Miss.), Oct 20, 2023

Crop yields were “really down” in Pottawatomie County in northeast Kansas. Some farmers were moving cattle off pastures earlier than usual. Hay production was also poor. The area did not receive any significant precipitation from late July to early October, leaving soybean yields less than half of a normal crop. SF| Successful Farming (Des Moines, Iowa), Oct 20, 2023

Morton pumpkin growers attested that getting seeds to germinate was a challenge, but rain helped the seeds to sprout and grow. Drought reduced the size of the pumpkins and number of the pumpkins, but the dry conditions also led to very little rot among the pumpkins. Peoria Public Radio (Ill.), Oct 13, 2023

Drought caused some apples in Iowa to be ready for picking as much as three weeks earlier than normal. Cherokee Chronicle Times (Iowa), Oct 19, 2023

The Texas A&M Agronomy Society cannot offer its annual corn maze and fall festival this year, due to extreme drought this summer that killed the corn crop. The seeds were planted in July, but no rain fell for nearly three or more months with temperatures above 100°. The seeds were irrigated, but the high soil temperatures caused the water to evaporate, leaving the seeds dry. KBTX (Bryan, Texas), Oct 19, 2023

A burn ban took effect, prohibiting outdoor burning and open fires within city limits, including recreational fires in fire pits. FOX23 News (Tulsa, Okla.), Oct 19, 2023

Drinking water advisories in Plaquemines Parish have been lifted as reverse osmosis machines and barges moving millions of gallons of water were arriving to dilute the salt in the water to safe levels below 250 ppm consistently. FOX 8 (New Orleans, La.), Oct 18, 2023 The water supply for communities drawing water from the Mississippi River is being protected by an underwater barrier to block the progression of a saltwater wedge that is moving upstream since July. The saltwater is expected to overtop the current barrier sometime around Sept. 22. In June, saltwater affected the drinking water of residents in lower Plaquemines Parish, forcing them to use water provided by the parish. About 2,000 people were using the distributed water, and the parish has given out more than 1.5 million gallons of water. If the saltwater were to reach Belle Chasse, at least 20,000 more people would need potable water. The bed of the Mississippi River is below sea level throughout the entire length of Louisiana, so when drought reduces the flow of the river, the salty, denser ocean water can creep further upstream. WWNO 89.9 (New Orleans, La.), Sept 19, 2023 Plaquemines Parish has been dealing with water line breaks and the saltwater wedge in the Mississippi River for months as drought affects the region. Lower parts of Plaquemines Parish have not had clean drinking water for months due to a saltwater wedge creeping up the Mississippi River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an underwater sill in July to slow the movement of the wedge upstream, but the wedge is expected to push past the sill and reach Belle Chasse by October 3. WWL-TV (New Orleans, La.), Sept 17, 2023

Hot, dry weather at the end of the growing season resulted in corn yields that were lower than expected. The October NASS corn yield estimates were several bushels per acre lower than the previous two months. The lower yield estimates for the Western Corn Belt led to the lower national corn yield estimate of 173.0 bpa in the October NASS report. Late season drought and heat in 2000 and 2010 also brought the yield down at the end of the season. DTN – Progressive Farmer (Burnsville, Minn.), Oct 19, 2023

An ethanol plant in Laddonia needed feedstocks because the yield of the corn grown in the vicinity of the plant was about 50% of normal, due to drought. A lot of corn had already been transported to the plant from other parts of Missouri. For a time, the Laddonia ethanol plant was offering 60 cents more than grain elevators along the Mississippi River at St. Louis. This was a highly unusual marketing strategy to get farmers to sell their corn to the plant rather than elsewhere. Brownfield Ag News (Jefferson City, Mo.), Oct 13, 2023

Grape yields were lower than usual in Shenandoah Valley, but the fruit quality was better, according to local growers. Drought also mitigated diseases and pests, so less spraying was needed. The Northern Virginia Daily (Strasburg, Va.), Oct 16, 2023

Deciduous trees in Mississippi were dropping their leaves early, due to drought. WJTV TV 12 (Jackson, Miss.), Oct 17, 2023

The South Carolina Drought Response Committee met and recognized 23 counties as being in incipient drought rather than normal conditions. WPDE (Conway, S.C.), Oct 17, 2023

The 2023 monsoon was drier and hotter than usual, which was hard on Mount Lemmon’s trees. The stressed trees were more susceptible to insects and disease. KGUN 9 Online (Tucson, Ariz.), Oct 17, 2023

The Fire Alert remained in effect for 32 counties in northern Alabama, but was rescinded for 35 counties in the southern part of the state. Burn permits will be available to certified prescribed burn managers in the northern Alabama counties, except for DeKalb, Jackson, and Marshall. The burn restriction was originally issued on Sept. 22 by the Alabama Forestry Commission. The drought, continuing absence of precipitation and high probability of fuel ignition led to the burn restriction. The Blount Countian (Oneonta, Ala.), Oct 18, 2023 The Alabama Forestry Commission issued a statewide Fire Alert on Sept. 22. The alert will remain in effect until the state forester rescinds it. The burning restriction was due to drought, which increases the fire danger. WSFA (Montgomery, Ala.), Sept 23, 2023

Waverly's water emergency remained in effect. Wahoo Newspaper (Neb.), Aug. 2, 2023 and 1011 Now (Lincoln, Neb.), Aug. 9, 2023 A water warning took effect in Waverly on June 3. On June 28, a water emergency began as drought and high water use continued, allowing the level of the towns' wells to fall. Waverly's mayor also proposed an emergency water rate to further lower water use because voluntary restrictions were not saving as much water as desired. 1011 Now (Lincoln, Neb.), June 27, 2023

In March 2023, paleontologists found bonebeds in the Navajo Sandstone near Lake Powell that held rare fossils of synapsid reptiles, which are reptiles with mammal-like features that lived at least 180 million years ago. The discovery could shed some light on the connection between mammals and reptiles. AZ Central (Phoenix, Ariz.), Oct 17, 2023