US drought 2014

There is severe drought in significant portions of the United States. Nevada, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Arizona are affected along with a few other places like parts of Colorado where I live. Here is a map that shows the affected areas of the US.


Map courtesy of: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

If you are living in such states you really need to be careful with open flames, BBQ's, etc. The last thing you want is to start a fire that might burn down your house along with the rest of the neighborhood. One thoughtless moment and that's all it takes. 

It also is a good idea in the affected areas to go xeriscape with your lawn and use drip irrigation for a garden if possible. Drip irrigation systems can be expensive I'll note and not within my budget though I do have a soaker hose system that works similarly. I'm expecting drought issues to become even bigger in the future.

Now I'm not expecting to actually see a full fledged dust bowl. Significant areas of the US aren't plowed up these days like they were in the 30's which lessens the possibility considerably. Still, fire is a significant issue and will continue to be.