1988–89 North American drought

Coordinates: 46°N 94°W / 46°N 94°W / 46; -94

Exploration of wooden hull wrecks in the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee during the drought.

The North American Drought of 1988 ranks among the worst episodes of drought in the United States. This multi-year drought began in most areas in 1988 and continued into 1989 and 1990 (in certain areas). The drought caused $60 billion in damage ($120 billion in 2017 United States dollars, adjusting for inflation). The drought occasioned some of the worst blowing-dust events since 1977 or the 1930s in many locations in the Midwestern United States, including a protracted dust storm, which closed schools in South Dakota in late February 1988. During the spring, several weather stations set records for lowest monthly total precipitation and longest interval between measurable precipitation, for example, 55 days in a row without precipitation in Milwaukee. During the summer, two record-setting heat waves developed, similar to those of 1934 and 1936. The concurrent heat waves killed 4,800 to 17,000 people in the United States. During the summer of 1988, the drought led to many wildfires in forested western North America, including the Yellowstone fires of 1988. At its peak, the drought covered 45% of the United States. While covering less area than the Dust Bowl, which covered 70% of the United States, the drought of 1988 ranks as not only the costliest drought in United States history but also one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history. In Canada, drought-related losses added to $1.8 billion (1988 Canadian dollars).

Origin

The western United States experienced a lengthy drought in the late 1980s. Much of California endured one of its longest droughts ever observed from late 1986 through early 1991. The situation worsened in 1988 as much of the United States also suffered from severe drought. In California, the five-year drought ended in late 1991 as a significant El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean (and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991) most likely caused unusually persistent heavy rains.[1]

Following a milder drought in the southeastern United States and California the previous year, the 1988–89 drought affected the Mid-Atlantic states, the southeastern United States, the midwestern United States, the northern Great Plains, and the western United States. Heatwaves that accompanied the drought killed around 4,800 to 17,000 Americans as well as livestock across the United States.[2] Cultivation of marginally arable land, as well as pumping groundwater to near depletion contributed to the damage from this event. The drought destroyed crops almost nationwide, lawns went brown, and many cities declared water restrictions. More than four inches (100 mm) of helpful rain were brought to parts of the Midwest in September 1988 by Hurricane Gilbert, which crossed Texas and Oklahoma as a tropical depression,[3] weakening as it moved further north into Missouri, and spreading rain as far as the Great Lakes.[4] In some areas Hurricane Gilbert overcame the drought outright, but other locations were at −6 or lower on the Palmer Drought Severity Index by early autumn 1988 and a general change in the pattern which had maintained for the preceding nine-plus months was required to ease the hydrological impacts of the drought. The agricultural damage was essentially done by this point, resulting in record prices for commodities.

Wildfires in Yellowstone National Park burned 793,880 acres (3,213 km2) and created exceptional destruction in the area.[5] For multiple reasons, the catastrophic drought continued across the Upper Midwest and northern Great Plains states during 1989, not officially ending until 1990.[6][7] Dry conditions continued during 1989, affecting Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and certain portions of Colorado.[8][9] The drought also affected some parts of Canada.

Beginning in the spring, a persistent wind pattern brought hot dry air into the middle of the continent from the desert southwest, whereas in most years advection of warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico is the rule; therefore, despite the extremely high temperatures, elevation of apparent temperature was not as severe as would be the case during the 1995 heat wave.

Damage

The drought of 1988 ranks as the worst drought since the Dust Bowl, which occurred more than 50 years earlier. The damages in the United States as of 2008, adjusted for inflation, put damages from the drought between $80 billion and almost $120 billion. The state of Minnesota alone saw $1.2 billion in crop losses. The drought caused devastation comparable to that of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In Canada, drought-related losses totalled $1.8 billion (in 1988 Canadian dollars).

References

  1. ↑ Water Resources Support Center, Institute For Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1992). Lessons learned from the California Drought (1987-1992). ASCE Publications. p. 122. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  2. ↑ Impacts of Recent Climate Anomalies: Losers and Winners (PDF) (Report). Illinois State Water Survey. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  3. ↑ Hurricane Gilbert - September 14-21, 1988 (Report). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  4. ↑ Weatherwise, January 1989: "The Weather of 1988"
  5. ↑ Young, Linda. "Flames of Controversy: Interpreting the Yellowstone Fires of 1988". Wildland Fire Education and Outreach Case Studies. National Interagency Fire Command. Archived from the original on June 23, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ Billion Dollar Disasters (Northern Plains Drought in Summer 1989) (Report). Live Science. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  7. ↑ Robbins, William (1989-09-16). "Drought Stricken Areas Find Relief after Rains". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  8. ↑ Improving Drought Management (PDF) (Report). The University of Nebraska. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  9. ↑ Drought of 1989 (Report). NOAA. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  • The Drought of 1988 book in PDF form
  • Trenberth, Kevin E.; Branstator, Grant W.; Arkin, Phillip A. (1988). "Origins of the 1988 North American Drought". Science. 242 (4886): 1640–1645. doi:10.1126/science.242.4886.1640.
  • 20th Century Drought ncdc.noaa.gov
  • Crop Production: Outlook for Post-Drought Recovery During 1989, Briefing report to the chairman, Subcommittee on Agricultural Research and General Legislation, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, United States Senate
  • Impact of the Drought on Prices and Production: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One-hundredth Congress, Second Session, July 6, 1988
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