California suffering through driest three years ever recorded, with no relief in sight as record-breaking historic heat waves continue
In this photo taken late Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2019, from KSL News, an archer stands in the parking lot at the new Yancey County courthouse in Yancey, S.D., where temperatures will now reach 90 degrees. (Photo: AP)
A record-breaking temperature record for the month of August may be among the most memorable and significant days of the year when your home is in the grip of extreme heat.
There’s no way to know for sure, but the August record, for the month, was set on Tuesday, August 21, when the temperature reached 120 degrees in Yancey, S.D. and was recorded as the hottest temperature ever in Yancey County.
That’s pretty amazing in a time when temperatures are below normal throughout much of the country, but not so great in the state of South Dakota, the hottest state and the state with the lowest number of days with a high temperature of 100 degrees or more. And with many major cities in South Dakota experiencing record-breaking heat, it’s a state in need of a miracle — and a lot of patience.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, South Dakota had its driest three-year period ever recorded from 2015-2018, when the state was hit by a drought that was in some areas so severe that water-management officials declared a state of emergency.
South Dakota was the sixth driest state in the continental US in 2018, according to the state climate bureau’s website, and the seventh driest on record. The state had an estimated 1.73 billion tons less of precipitation than normal.
The drought, which persisted from 2015 to 2018, is now ending and the rain is returning to South Dakota, where recent historic rainfalls have replenished reservoirs with ample water and reduced the drought to below-average conditions — but with conditions still on par for years to come.
As a result, the state experienced less extreme and longer-lasting heat, but the heat continues to scorch its citizens and residents.
“There are areas in South Dakota that are experiencing all this record-breaking heat, this historic
