Where has all the rain gone? Bone-dry October strikes much of US

AP Science Writer

It’s as if Mother Nature shut off the rain faucet in the United States in October. More than 100 cities across the nation are reporting their driest October so far. In June, less than 12% of the US was in drought. Now it’s nearly half and growing. Meteorologists say the country is going through a flash drought, something the world is seeing more of as Earth’s climate changes. No rain was measured in October in New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and many other places. Meteorologists blame a dome of high pressure that’s blocking moisture from moving up from the Gulf of Mexico.