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Rain eases wildfire threat, but drought still a problem

Recent rainfall has definitely helped ease the threat of wildfire in northeast Oklahoma, but there hasn't been nearly enough rain to ease the real problem of drought.

Much of the southwestern United States has been in the grip of terrible drought for more than three years now.

According to a recent USA Today article, seven states currently have severe drought conditions in more than fifty percent of their territory.

That includes Oklahoma, which has severe drought on 64.5% of its land, and extreme drought on 50.1% -- the second-highest percentage of extreme drought in the nation.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma leads the nation for exceptional drought, with 30.4% of the state affected.

The state with the worst drought problem of all is California.

One hundred percent of the Golden State is in severe drought, 76.7% is in extreme drought, and 24.8% in exceptional drought.

That will translate to higher grocery prices across the country.

Drought has also led to extremely long wildfire seasons in many parts of the country.

According to Mike Lacy at the National Weather Service office in Tulsa, the area remains about 7 to 7.5 inches below average rainfall for the year, despite the recent showers.

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