# Why the worst drought in U.S. history was a 'climate surprise' - E&E News by POLITICO

> The second part of an E&E News series examines the 2012 Great Plains drought, the worst in recorded U.S. history. It cut the expected corn crop by 26% and caused about $30 billion in damage, and the article discusses how to respond to extreme weather.

- Date: 2017-02-09 · published 2017-02-09T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/72346-why-the-worst-drought-in-u-s-history-was-a-climate-surprise-e-and-e-news-by
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

This is background on a past drought and policy debate, with no new supply event that would move feed prices today.

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2016-12-02 | [UNL climatologist: Keep an eye on the Southeast drought - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/73408-unl-climatologist-keep-an-eye-on-the-southeast-drought-brownfield-ag-news.md) | +4.1% | +4.2% |
| CORN | 2018-02-01 | [More U.S. drought in a second-year La Niña? \| NOAA Climate.gov](https://feedsoft.ai/events/66419-more-u-s-drought-in-a-second-year-la-nina-noaa-climate-gov.md) | +0.6% | +2.1% |
| CORN | 2022-05-16 | ['Flash droughts' are Midwest's next big climate threat \| Grist](https://feedsoft.ai/events/13365-flash-droughts-are-midwest-s-next-big-climate-threat-grist.md) | +0.1% | +0.3% |
| CORN | 2020-05-04 | [The Dry April That Wasn't \| Illinois State Climatologist Illinois State Water Survey 
 PRI 
 Illinois](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52966-the-dry-april-that-wasn-t-illinois-state-climatologist-illinois-state-water.md) | +1.9% | +1.9% |
| CORN | 2019-12-18 | [A Climate Change Double Whammy in the U.S. Corn Belt \| Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55426-a-climate-change-double-whammy-in-the-u-s-corn-belt-lamont-doherty-earth.md) | -0.1% | -1.9% |
| SOY | 2016-12-02 | [UNL climatologist: Keep an eye on the Southeast drought - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/73408-unl-climatologist-keep-an-eye-on-the-southeast-drought-brownfield-ag-news.md) | -0.3% | -3.2% |
| SOY | 2020-05-04 | [The Dry April That Wasn't \| Illinois State Climatologist Illinois State Water Survey 
 PRI 
 Illinois](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52966-the-dry-april-that-wasn-t-illinois-state-climatologist-illinois-state-water.md) | +0.2% | -0.8% |
| SOY | 2019-12-18 | [A Climate Change Double Whammy in the U.S. Corn Belt \| Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55426-a-climate-change-double-whammy-in-the-u-s-corn-belt-lamont-doherty-earth.md) | +0.8% | -0.5% |

## Sources

- eenews.net: https://www.eenews.net/articles/why-the-worst-drought-in-u-s-history-was-a-climate-surprise/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.