Omigod, it’s worse than I thought

Time Magazine is profiling New Mexico’s travails. An excerpt:

It began with a mass of arctic air in early February that sent temperatures plummeting to depths never seen in the state before. Pipes froze and many schools and government offices were closed to preserve gas supplies, which became so scarce that the New Mexico Gas Co. suspended service to some northern New Mexico communities, including Taos, in order to prevent the entire system from shutting down. The big freeze destroyed 99% of the state’s peach crop and damaged many other fruit crops.

Spring came late, bringing with it fierce winds that kicked up dust clouds so thick they obscured nearby mountains. Typically, the spring winds are gone by the end of May. But they are still raging. And then there’s the rain problem, or the lack of it. Only 0.19 of an inch of moisture has fallen from the skies since last October, making this the driest period since 1897, when the state began keeping track.

I can only say, it wasn’t like this when Bill Richardson was governor.