While much of the United States is in the midst of a scorching heat wave, there is only one state experiencing widespread drought.
All Virginia counties are under a drought watch or have received a warning to prepare for drier than normal conditions.
A major drought in the state, home to more than eight million Americans, is threatening agriculture and water availability and could lead to devastating wildfires.
Farms are specifically concerned about the problem, with many fearing they will see the first crop failure in 10 years.
Virginians are encouraged not to use unnecessary water, such as hoses or sprinkler systems, on their lawn or garden.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued the warning on Monday that affects people in 12 counties in the state, while another 95 counties are under a watch alert to facilitate residents’ preparation for a drought.
Virginia has 41,500 operating farms covering 7.7 million acres exporting primarily corn, wheat and soybeans throughout the United States; The state is the fifth largest soybean producer in the country.
“There will be poor crops here this year and it’s something we haven’t seen in eight or 10 years,” said Robert Vaughn, owner of Vaughn Farms Produce. 10Wave News.
It’s been a dust bowl. I dare not plant the seed because it will not sprout.’
Virginia is not the only state with areas experiencing drought, as 10 percent of the lower 48 states are under some type of warning or watch.
But the southern state has seen a decline in rainfall this year, reporting just 0.68 inches of precipitation at the Richmond airport in June, a drop from the normal average of nearly three inches.
Although this figure may not seem like a big difference, the combination with high temperatures has quickly dried out the soil, creating a sudden drought.
This type of drought occurs rapidly and occurs when low rainfall, abnormally high temperatures, strong winds and/or radiation changes occur simultaneously.
“These sometimes rapid changes can rapidly increase evapotranspiration rates and remove available water from the landscape,” according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.
“In the last few weeks, we definitely haven’t seen as much rain as we would like to see,” said Brendon Rubin-Oster, senior forecaster for the National Weather Service. WTOP.
“The sun hits the ground hard, which certainly dries things out even more easily.”
The DEQ said stream flows (the flow of water in streams and other channels) in Virginia have fallen to the 25th percentile of normal values in 13 regions and groundwater levels have continued to decline in northern, central and eastern parts of the state.
Declining groundwater levels and lower-than-normal stream flows necessitated the drought warning and were made worse by a combination of high temperatures and lack of rain in the region.
“Five regions are currently below the 25th percentile, including Big Sandy, Northern Coastal Plain, Northern Piedmont, Upper James, and Southeast Virginia,” the DEQ said. reported.
The United States is experiencing above-average heat waves that are exacerbating the Virginia drought
Rubin-Oster said Virginia would need several days of rain to emerge from the drought, but it could end quickly with frequent thunderstorms, but when this happens, “a lot of the rain ends up as runoff because it falls too quickly at once.”
Virginians should take steps to minimize water use by eliminating non-essential flushing of water lines, stopping the use of irrigation systems on lawns, golf courses and sports fields, and stopping flushing paved surfaces such as streets, sidewalks and driveways.
DEQ’s drought response plan also requires local governments and public water works to turn off the operation of ornamental fountains, artificial waterfalls and misting machines.
This comes as 21 percent of the US population (about 70.2 million people) lives in areas with dangerous heat waves this week.
In Virginia alone, the heat index will exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit as temperatures reach 90 degrees, and although possible storms could occur this weekend, forecasters warned they could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and isolated tornadoes .