Hurricane Irene: 12 Ways to Track the Storm Online There's a lot of excitement on the East Coast this week. In addition to Tuesday's earthquake, Hurricane Irene will likely make an appearance this weekend in the Carolinas and possibly elsewhere. As I write this, Hurricane Irene is wreaking havoc on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, but who knows where it will go? Predicting the path of a hurricane is notoriously difficult work. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Eric Hood MPRES Real Time Hazard Summary WTC/MPRES Real Time Hazard Summary This page is automatically generated by our computers as part of ongoing research by Watson Technical Consulting and the University of Central Florida Dept. of Statistics. For more information please see our research page . If you want reliable hazard and damage estimates for insurance, engineering, oil and gas forecasts, electrical outages, and other data, try Kinetic Analysis Corporation . For discussions on what (if anything) this stuff means, as well as lots of other data, check out our blog and hazard disucssion . WARNING! Sun Mar 31 10:52:08 UTC 2013 Tropical Cyclone Hazards Shown as open circles on map. Latest DB Update: SH922013 | 2013-03-31 04:02:16.015471 | WEB | UCAR Earthquake Hazards Shown as squares on map. Latest event in catalog: 2013-03-31 10:45:38 US Local Storm Reports Last six hours (Google Earth) Last 24 hours (Google Earth) Special Projects North Korea Nuclear Test Monitor KMZ (Google Earth File)
MD-DE-DC- Streams "Drought is a condition of moisture deficit sufficient to have an adverse effect on vegetation, animals, and man over a sizeable area." The following questions and answers provide background on some of the scientific issues regarding drought. For questions on regulatory issues, such as water-use restrictions in states and localities, please refer to the appropriate authority in your jurisdiction. Questions and answers are original compositions or are compiled from any available sources and credit is given where appropriate. Weather and Drought What causes drought? A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems. The amount of rain and snow also varies with the seasons. When no rain or only a very small amount of rain falls, soils can dry out and plants can die. Reference: Moreland, 1993. • Return to Top of Page When does a drought begin? The beginning of a drought is difficult to determine. Does a shortage of rain mean that a drought will occur?