What is 1988–90 North American drought?
The '''1988–90 North American drought''' was a [[weather]] problem that lasted two years. The [[drought]] began in 1988 in the [[Midwestern United States]], [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]] and the [[Northeastern United States]]. A number of [[high pressure area]]s set themselves up over several parts of these areas, restricting [[thunderstorm]]s from developing. During the spring of 1988, [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]] had 55 days straight without any [[precipitation]]. In the summer, two record-setting [[list of heat waves|heat waves]] developed, similar to 1934, [[1936 North American heat wave|1936]] and [[1983–85 North American drought|1983–85]]. The constant heat waves led to as many as 17,000 deaths in the [[United States]]. During the summer of 1988, the drought led to a number of [[wildfire]]s in western [[North America]]. That included the [[Yellowstone fires of 1988]]. At its peak, the drought covered 45% of the United States in 1988 alone. That's less area than the [[Dust Bowl]], which covered 70% of the United States. But the Drought of 1988 caused $60 billion in damage. That not only is the most expensive drought in the history of the United States,<ref>{{cite document|title=Impacts of Recent Climate Anomalies|publisher=Illinois State Univ|url=https://www.isws.illinois.edu/pubdoc/DCS/ISWSDCS2007-01.pdf|access-date=January 12, 2021}}</ref> it was the costliest [[natural disaster]] before [[Hurricane Katrina]] seventeen years later. The drought destroyed crops nationwide. Lawns went brown. A number of cities ordered water restrictions. More than four inches of helpful rain came to the Midwest through [[Hurricane Gilbert]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Hurricane Gilbert|publisher=NOAA|url=https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/gilbert1988.html|access-date=January 12, 2021}}</ref> The storm crossed [[Texas]] and [[Oklahoma]] as a tropical depression. It spread rain as far as the [[Great Lakes]]. Other locations, however, were at -6 or lower on the Palmer Drought Severity Index by early autu