Earth Changes
May turned out to be one of the warmest and driest on record.
The spring of 2007 March through May was also one of the warmest on the record books.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring and recording streamflow for more than 100 years at many locations throughout North Carolina, including the French Broad River at Asheville, which has been continuously monitored since 1895. Streamflows at this location in May were at or below the streamflow recorded on the same date in 2002, during the most recent severe drought.
State climatologist Hope Mizzell says drying farm land and rapidly dropping stream and river flows led the committee to today's vote to upgrade the drought. Mizzell says a moderate drought doesn't require mandatory action by public water systems or the public, but it is a warning conditions are getting worse.
Climatologist Cliff Harris said he counted more than 100 hundred lightning strikes during the storm, which lasted two and half hours.
"It was one of the top five thunderstorms since 1990 because of its duration," Harris said. "It was like a war zone."
The winds caused dangerous conditions on the water. In Waukegan a man died while trying to rescue somebody in Lake Michigan. 19-year-old Joshua Simpson of Zion died after pushing a woman and a man to safety.
The National Weather Service predicted very windy and warm conditions, with possible severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes, starting in the afternoon and continuing into the night.
And the kids got a day off from school due to a power outage.
Nearly two feet of wet, heavy snow caused a transmission outage that left the rural community in the dark from late Monday night through 12:30 p-m Tuesday.
Broken branches, downed power lines, a thick blanket of slush and a wind chill that made temperatures feel like minus six welcomed Calgarians as they trudged into work this morning.
"The 23rd is the beginning of our usual frost-free period. Normally we're into no more snow, no more freezing temperatures," said Global TV weather expert Paul Dunphy. "But we do still get the occasional big blast of snow into May."