© NOAA
2010 National Hydrologic Assessment
One-third of the United States faces the possibility of "historic flooding" in coming weeks, especially the upper Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, government forecasters said.
"Once again we are delivering an urgent message to get ready," John Hayes, director of the National Weather Service, said in a conference call yesterday. "The flood risk is above-average over one-third of the country."
The flood potential is driven in part by El Nino, a warming in the Pacific Ocean, which steered storms that have left the ground saturated from record rains and heavy snows. The area designated for above-average risk stretches from New Mexico to Maine, federal
maps show.
"We are looking at potentially historic flooding in some parts of the country this spring," Jane Lubchenco, administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in the conference call.
Many areas of the eastern U.S. have received twice the normal amount of rain in the past three months, said Tom Graziano, a weather service hydrologist.
Comment: Four years ago Sott.net published this: Comet dust build-up? South Korea gets rare yellow snowfall
Two years ago we noticed this: Yellow snowfall over western Siberia
Just last week we reported an incident of purple snowfall, again in Russia.
Of course, they'll say it was the "high winds from Mongolia" that produced this effect, and that explanation will suffice for most. Some however, have looked closer...