While the nation's east and southeast coastal regions brace for a wetter-than normal hurricane season, western and southwestern regions are sweating it out from persistent arid conditions.

Just as hurricane season ushers in a new round of emergency preparations for too much precipitation, drought also demands some definitive lifestyle changes when there's too little of the wet stuff.

The "U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook Through August 2006" from the Climate Prediction Center at the National Weather Service says heavy rainfall recently eased dry conditions that helped ignite fires in Florida, but hot, dry weather is expected to contribute to persisting or worsening drought over the High Plains region from Texas to Wyoming.

The summer forecast calls for nearly normal rainfall in the Plains this summer, but not nearly enough to keep drought conditions from persisting well into summer. Drought conditions could ease in the parched Oklahoma and Missouri region, but extreme drought will persist in the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Texas, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.

With drought comes water shortages which warrant a heightened level of water conservation.

The American Water Works Association says there are four stages of drought each with varying levels of water shortages and appropriate responses.

Published: June 1, 2006

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.