DROUGHTS OCCUR WHEN the rainfall in an area falls below its normal pattern for an extended period of time. If the drought occurs in a region where crops are usually not irrigated, then farmers suffer crop losses that may range from mild to severe. If the drought is extreme, the crop losses may be total, because the plants wither and die without water. The weather, which is the current atmospheric conditions locally or regionally, can develop into a pattern that seems to be stuck. In such conditions, floods or drought may occur. Meteorologists who make long-range weather predictions cannot predict droughts. However, scientists and others who study climatic conditions produced by weather patterns in an area or region over long periods of time have found ...