For three days in 2005, flooding from Hurricane Katrina cut off the only road to Port Fourchon. Officials had to decide: did the risk of future flooding justify the cost of raising the roadway out of the Gulf's rising waters?
Drought in the far West and the southern portion of the Great Plains—regions that are already experiencing extreme and exceptional drought—will likely continue or worsen through September.
More than halfway through August, the Atlantic Ocean has seen just two named storms. Despite the availability of heat energy at the sea's surface, atmospheric conditions have not been favorable for storm development.
Drought conditions across a large swath of the Western United States are unlikely to improve during May, according to the Monthly Drought Outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
While heat is stored and mixed throughout the depth of the ocean, it is the temperature at the surface—where the ocean is in direct contact with the atmosphere—that plays a significant role in weather and short-term climate.
