What has been called the worst drought for China's Yunnan Province in nearly acentury will persist, as there will be little prospect for meaningful rainfalluntil May.
Between six and seven months of dry winter weather is characteristic of theYunnan Province of China, but an early end to last year's rainy season iscausing the current drought to be much worse than in previous years.
Parts of China are no strangers todrought. This section of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) about 500 years ago, has emerged from the Panjiakou Reservoir as aresult of a severe drought. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhou Wenguang)
Yunnan has felt unusually high temperatures and unusually low rainfall sincethe beginning of September, when conditions usually dry out for the start ofthe winter's dry season.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists foresee only slight rain in April, withrelieving rain very unlikely here.
May is expected to be the first month for heavier rainfall, when 4 inches isnormal for the region during this time.
The seasonal rainy weather usually begins in April or May for the province,with the dry season moving in after October.
The peak month of the rainy season is July, when over 8 inches of rain isnormal.
The drought is badly affecting the planting of crops, and reservoirs in seriousshortage of water will make it even harder for the planting to besustained.
Story by AccuWeather.com's Carly Porter, with content contributed by SeniorForecaster Jim Andrews.
