Worst Wyoming Drought Since 2013 Affecting The State
Wyoming is currently navigating through the worst drought since 2013 and 97% of the state is feeling the dry conditions.
The National Weather Service has issued information with 5 levels of drought. According to the latest numbers (that are released every Thursday) most of Natrona County and 42.4% of the State of Wyoming as being in "Severe Drought" or D2 meaning water pressure is lower and the level of some wells has dropped. The Northwest part of the Natrona County, Part of Johnson County and most of Campbell County is under the D3 "Extreme Drought" meaning water levels are lower than needed for ranching and farming.
If you paid attention in science class, you know how important water is to life...human, vegetation and animal. Over the last few days rain has moved through the area and HELPED the drought situation.
The USGS describes a couple days of rain as a single dose of medicine to help you with an illness, you need a steady program of the medicine for your illness to be cured. In other words, a couple days of rain helps, but much more rain is needed for the drought to be fully taken care of, but after this past weekend we warm up and dry out.
With drought, come the dangers of the drought to the ranches, homes and communities. Fire, lack of water, anxiety from economic strain, insect infestations along with disease are all effects of drought. So anything you can do to avoid making the situation worse, please do.
According to Ready.Gov, some ways you can help are to avoid overwatering your lawn, use commercial car washes that recycle the water and conserve water as much as possible.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has a great list of ways to help prevent wildfires. Many of those are to be careful where you park your hot car, avoid letting chains drag & spark, when camping take care of your campfire and when celebrating Independence Day keep in mind that 19,000 fires are started by fireworks.
Due to the drought conditions, The US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management currently classifies Natrona County is under stage 1 Fire Restrictions which means there are many restrictions that apply, that may affect your 4th of July plans. Review the list for each county.