Climatic Schizophrenia: Despite One of Wettest Julys in United States, Drought Conditions Expand

Copious quantities of monsoonal moisture have made scenes like this all too common in Colorado in recent weeks. (Photograph: © Tom Yulsman) It's been wet in much of the United States lately. Very, very wet. According to the National Climatic Data Center's monthly report, issued yesterday, the lower 48 states experienced their fifth wettest July on record. Yet all that water has failed to relieve drought conditions that afflict more than 41 percent of the United States. In fact, according to the NCDC report, drought actually expanded into parts of the Lower Mississippi River Valley and Midwest. From the report: