2012–2013 North American drought

Low snowfall amounts in winter, coupled with the intense summer heat from La Niña, caused drought-like conditions to migrate northward from the southern United States, wreaking havoc on crops and water supply.

[citation needed] At its peak in July 2012,[3] it covered approximately 81 percent of the contiguous United States with at least abnormally dry (D0) conditions.

Heavy rains across previously drought-stricken areas resulted in widespread flooding in portions of the Midwest, a phenomenon which was named "weather whiplash".

Although drought/dry conditions are likely to drop at least one category level in the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Northern Plains as well as portions of the Ohio River Valley, it is expected to have both short-term and long-term impacts across nearly the entire affected area.

That analysis [19] was based upon a marked variability at the 10–15- year time scale that is coincident with the water storage increase in the Missouri River Basin.

The study [20] found that precipitation over the MRB undergoes a profound modulation during the transition points of the Pacific quasi-decadal oscillation and associated teleconnections.

[21] Crops, particularly strains grown in the most heavily affected regions (such as corn and soybeans), were noted to be failing or yielding very low in 2012 due to the drought's presence in farming areas.

[22] This increase in cost moved up the feeding chain and resulted in raised prices for meat, dairy, and processed food products.

Lack of rainfall had caused the mouths of rivers to be blocked off by sand bars which further prevents fish from reaching their spawning grounds.

Stafford Lehr, Chief of Fisheries within the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says that 95% of winter run salmon didn't survive in 2013.

In early 2014 the main stems of the Eel, Mad, Smith, Van Duzen, and Mattole rivers were closed pending additional rainfall.

[32] Other actions were also taken, such as releasing more water from the Kent Dam in hopes of raising the levels in the Lagunitas Creek watershed – one of the last spawning grounds that wild coho can still reach.