Currently, almost 61% of the country

"Currently, almost 61% of the wholesale rayban sunglasses country (not including Alaska and Hawaii) is in drought, compared to 29% a year ago," Fuchs says. "Even though it is part of the natural variability of climate, this is a rare event." About 78% of the country's corn-growing regions are in drought, he says. The Palmer Drought Severity Indexsays this drought covers the largest percentage of the contiguous USA since December 1956. There isn't much good news in long-term weather forecasts. "Over the next several weeks to even the next month or so, we're not really anticipating any changes to the pattern," Fuchs says. Crops are withering In the Clunette area, some of the drought's oakley sunglasses new style outlet 636 effects are obvious. Corn stalks are 4 or 5 feet high, about half what they should be at this point in the summer, and nobody has to mow their lawn anymore. Grass is brown and dead, and farmers are conserving water for irrigating their fields — though even some watered corn is struggling. The drought's effects are causing alarm across the Midwest: •The Arkansas River near Syracuse, Kan., last week had less than 1 cubic foot per second of water flowing in it. The historical mean flow: 394 cubic feet per second. The flow was the lowest recorded for this time of year since records began in 1902, says Brian Loving, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist in Lawrence, Kan. The temperature of the water flowing in the Wakarusa River, southeast of Topeka, reached 103 degrees on July 7, Loving says. High water temperatures reduce the amount of oxygen available in the stream to fish and other aquatic $29 oakley sunglasses life.