impact on drinking water supplies. Fire dangers are more severe after dry winters. Monsoon season and summer rain spells can help some of this problem. The Dust Bowl time in the US in the 1930s was particularly severe with 50 million acres of land affected. Some difficulties were also had in the 1950s, when rainfall levels dropped in the Great Plains area. In both cases, crops were ruined and water supplies were greatly diminished. There were many cases since then where fires have broken out, causing forest fires and wildfires simply because of insufficient rain. Drought can be predicted somewhat by monitoring precipitation, the flow of streams, and the amount of moisture in the soil. These together can predict when water deficits might be imminent in a certain area of the world.
WET SEASONS Wet seasons or "rainy seasons" are commonplace in many parts of the world. These are times when it is wetter for at least one month at a time. The tropical and subtropical areas are where you see these rainy seasons for the most part. Expect average precipitation to be more than 60 millimeters or about 2.4 inches. In some parts of the world, these seasons are in winter, while others are in summer. Interestingly, tropical rainforests don’t have rainy seasons as they have consistent rainfall. While flooding can happen in wet seasons, they have the benefit of improving the amount of fresh, high-quality water, maximizing crop yields, and improving air quality. Erosion worsens, however, and there will be worsened soil nutrients in some cases. Higher levels of malaria and dengue fever are seen during wet seasons. If the winds shift in direction, we call these seasons monsoon seasons. The shift in winds goes from coming from the northeast to coming from the Southwest during monsoon seasons. Rainfall in a wet season often happens in the afternoon and is due largely to the heating of the atmosphere by the sun. There will be thunderstorms and rain in an area where the airmass is already moist. There are periods of downpour, followed by a steady rain. One wet season is common in some parts of the world with two wet seasons in other parts.
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