Michael McEwen
Drought
Since August 1, nearly 900 wildfires have burned more than 15,000 acres across the state, challenging previously established notions of wildfire activity and pushing resources and the workforce to the point of exhaustion.
Agricultural producers and commercial shipping operations along the Mississippi River have also been impacted by low water levels due to a lack of rainfall.
While recent rainfall has brought some relief – forecasters believe much more is needed to lift the extreme drought currently impacting much of the state.
“We've already seen the whites of its eyes, and it's not going to produce as much rainfall as far north as we thought. The bulk of the rain will be right across the area that needs it the most: the southern part of the state,” said Mike Edmonston, senior meteorologist at the Jackson NWS station. “But at one point, three or four days ago, we were looking at it having the potential for more significant rainfall totals and we're not seeing that yet. It's all pretty much been pretty light.”
Excluding extreme east-central Mississippi, much of the state has fallen under the National Weather Service's most severe classification for droughts.
More than 43% of the state is currently classified as experiencing 'exceptional drought' conditions, with almost the same number a step down but still under 'extreme drought' classification.
Forecasters such as Edmonston, say that's due to what they call a 'flash drought' -- when conditions rapidly change and a faucet is essentially shut off.
“And with the rainfall that we've just had across the area and the rain we're still expecting, I doubt that's going to be enough to knock it from a D4 exceptional drought to a D3 extreme drought. It's possible, but I don't think we’ve had enough rain to do that.”
44 of Mississippi's 82 counties are currently under drought and disaster designations. County level burn bans will remain in place where necessary, but an increased number of cold fronts bringing moisture are predicted to lessen the risk of wildfire due to dry conditions.
