As an unprecedented drought continues to grip the West, Utah Governor Spencer Cox issued a heartfelt call to Utahns on Thursday, asking them to pray for rain.
In a video posted on Twitter Thursday, the governor asked all Utahns, regardless of faith, to join together in a “weekend of humble prayer for rain,” CNN reports. “By praying collaboratively and collectively, asking God or whatever higher power you believe in, for more rain, we may be able to escape the deadliest aspects of the continuing drought,” said Cox.
The governor has already issued two executive orders this year, declaring a statewide drought emergency, and last month, Cox banned state agenciwes from watering during the hottest part of the day, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. in an effort to conserve water supplies.
The governor’s office said that soil moisture is at its lowest since 2006 when monitoring for that data began. He has asked all Utahns to conserve water, reminding them they live in the driest state in the nation.
The US Drought Monitor says 90.2 percent of Utah is in extreme drought and 97.9 percent of the state is in severe drought conditions. On a broader scale, the drought is currently affecting 36.5 percent of the U.S. and impacting over 143 million people, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
“While we’ve had a few welcome rainstorms this spring, it’s simply not enough to fill our reservoirs or offset the low levels of moisture in our soils,” Cox said, according to the Deseret News. “The extremely dry conditions this year bring the potential for deadly fires, and the lack of water threatens our crops, our livestock and wildlife, our food supply chains, and really, our way of life.”
The weather forecast through Sunday is calling for temperatures in the southern and northwestern parts of the state to be 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Excessive heat warnings have been issued.
There are also heat advisories for parts of central and northeastern parts of Utah with temperatures there nearing 100 degrees.
