"Drought Spreads Pain From Florida to Arizona"

"COLQUITT, Ga. — The heat and the drought are so bad in this southwest corner of Georgia that hogs can barely eat. Corn, a lucrative crop with a notorious thirst, is burning up in fields. Cotton plants are too weak to punch through soil so dry it might as well be pavement.

Farmers with the money and equipment to irrigate are running wells dry in the unseasonably early and particularly brutal national drought that some say could rival the Dust Bowl days. ...

The pain has spread across 14 states, from Florida, where severe water restrictions are in place, to Arizona, where ranchers could be forced to sell off entire herds of cattle because they simply cannot feed them.

In Texas, where the drought is the worst, virtually no part of the state has been untouched. City dwellers and ranchers have been tormented by excessive heat and high winds. In the Southwest, wildfires are chewing through millions of acres."

Kim Severson and Kirk Johnson report for the New York Times July 11, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"From Drought to Monsoon, But Fire Officials Warn Wildfires Aren’t Done Yet" (FlaglerLive)

"Good News, Bad News About Our Monsoon Rainfall This Far" (Arizona Star)

"U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook for July 7 to Sept. 2011" (NWS/Bloomberg)

"Intense Drought in Southern Tier in No Hurry To Loosen Grip" (Capital Weather Gang/WashPost)