Wildfires exploded across the Great Basin and the Northwest during July, charring 3.2 million acres of vegetation and nearly tripling the nation's year-to-date burned area (from 1.9 to 5.1 million acres). Other heat- and drought-related western woes included high irrigation demands and diminishing water supplies. Relentless heat also expanded across the northern Rocky Mountains and northern High Plains, resulting in the hottest month on record in dozens of locations. In the Southwest the July onset of the summer rainy season provided local drought relief. Meanwhile, flooding subsided on the southern Plains but shifted into the western Gulf Coast region, where a few locations received monthly rainfall totals in excess of 20 inchest In contrast, monthly rainfall totaled one inch or less in parts of the upper Midwest. Heavy rain soaked portions of Florida and the central Gulf Coast region, while most of the remainder of the Southeast experienced only local relief from long-term drought.
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