America's Drought-Riskiest Cities How Dry is Your City?

PORTLAND, OR – November 9, 2007 -

A new list from livability expert Bert Sperling measures the drought severity for the 100 largest metro areas in the United States.  Nearly 200 million people reside in these 100 metros, comprising nearly 60% of the U.S. population.

SoCal the driest, Texas the wettest

Los Angeles tops the list of drought-plagued cities, with its recent
annual rainfall only 25% of normal.  Other top-ten driest cities include
Salt Lake City, Nashville, and Birmingham.

At the other end of the list are cities suffering from too much water.
Cities in the central Texas region such as San Antonio, Dallas, Houston,
and Oklahoma City have been afflicted by flood conditions this summer.
Ironically, these floods which have caused deaths and property damage in
Texas are the product of abnormal climate patterns that prevented the
moisture-laden clouds to be carried northward to the already-parched Deep
South.

Current effects of the drought

The United States is undergoing a nationwide drought, producing a crisis
that some scientists believe will have greater consequences than rising sea
levels.

The devastating brush fires in Southern California are one side effect of
this continuing drought.  The Deep South is also gripped by a prolonged
drought, endangering the water supply for the 4.4 million residents of the
Atlanta mega-metro area.

The mighty Great Lakes are also shrinking, threatening shipping commerce
due to historically low water levels.  The Florida Everglades are being
affected by Florida's continuing water emergency.

Study author Bert Sperling said, "This drought is having a deep and
lasting effect on the choices regarding where we will want to live in the
future.  The crisis has been growing slowly, but it is finally getting
attention in the national spotlight."

About the rankings

This study is based on the Sperling Drought Index, which Bert Sperling
created as a way for the public to easily understand and compare the
severity of drought conditions.

"My work is all about measuring our livability and helping people find the
best places for their life," said Sperling.  I wanted to produce a metric
that allows any city or neighborhood in the country to assess the current
effect of the drought in their area."

The Sperling Drought Index is based on the scale where 100 represents the
historic norm.  Scores greater than 100 indicate drought conditions, and
those less than 100 indicate abnormally wet conditions.  Sperling and his
team base the index on the latest drought and weather statistics from the
National Climatic Data Center

DroughtScore.com

The complete database of Sperling Drought Indices have been put on the
web, in a specialized site named www.DroughtScore.com.

Web visitors can now assess and compare the drought risk for every city,
town and zip code in the United States, over 50,000 places in all.

In addition to the single drought index measuring the present drought
situation in any area, DroughtScore.com also graphs the scores for the last
13 months, comparing the local area to state and national averages.

Bert Sperling created the Sperling Drought Index so that a score of 100
represents the historic norm.  Scores greater than 100 indicate drought
conditions, and those less than 100 indicate abnormally wet conditions.

A complete discussion regarding the use and methodology of the Sperling
Drought Index can be found here -
http://droughtscore.com/about/Methodology.aspx.

About Sperling's BestPlaces

For over 20 years, Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own
"Best Place" to live.  His firm, Sperling's BestPlaces, puts facts about
cities and living in the hands of the public, so they can make better
decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate.  The
latest edition of his best-selling "Cities Ranked and Rated" (Wiley) was
released in May, 2007 and "Best Places to Raise your Family" (Wiley), was
released in May, 2006.  More information about Bert Sperling and Sperling's
BestPlaces is available at www.bestplaces.net.

America's Drought-Riskiest Cities
Measuring the Drought in the 100 Largest Metros in United States

Extreme Drought:
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
2. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
3. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
5. Salt Lake City, UT
6. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro, TN
7. Chattanooga, TN-GA
8. Birmingham-Hoover, AL
9. Greenville, SC

Severe Drought:
10. Knoxville, TN
11. Jacksonville, FL
12. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
13. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
14. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
15. Orlando-Kissimmee, FL
16. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
17. Raleigh-Cary, NC
18. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
19. Greensboro-High Point, NC
20. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
21. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
22. Columbia, SC
23. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
24. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
25. Lakeland, FL
26. Bakersfield, CA
27. Tucson, AZ

Moderate Drought:
28. Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL
29. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
30. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
31. Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA
32. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
33. Memphis, TN-MS-AR
34. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
35. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
36. Charleston-North Charleston, SC
37. Baltimore-Towson, MD
38. Fresno, CA
39. Modesto, CA
40. Stockton, CA
41. St. Louis, MO-IL
42. Louisville, KY-IN

Mild Drought:
43. Jackson, MS
44. Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
45. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
46. Boise City-Nampa, ID
47. Richmond, VA
48. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
49. Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
50. Dayton, OH
51. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
52. Honolulu, HI

Temporary Dry Spell:
53. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
54. Rochester, NY
55. Indianapolis, IN
56. Columbus, OH
57. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
58. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL

Near Normal:
59. Baton Rouge, LA
60. Kansas City, MO-KS
61. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
62. New Haven-Milford, CT
63. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
64. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
65. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
66. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Temporary Wet Spell:
67. Pittsburgh, PA

Mildly Wet:
68. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA
69. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
70. Lancaster, PA
71. Springfield, MA
72. Worcester, MA
73. Syracuse, NY
74. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
75. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
76. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
77. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI

Moderately Wet:
78. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
79. Akron, OH
80. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
81. Colorado Springs, CO
82. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
83. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
84. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
85. Denver-Aurora, CO1
86. Tulsa, OK
87. Madison, WI

Very Wet:
88. Toledo, OH
89. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME
90. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
91. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
92. Albuquerque, NM
93. Des Moines, IA
94. Wichita, KS
95. El Paso, TX

Extremely Wet:
96. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
97. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
98. Austin-Round Rock, TX
99. San Antonio, TX
100. Oklahoma City, OK