Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)

Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size and duration.

The drought, which is affecting almost 50 million people in 15 states, is cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires.

Doyle Rice, USA TODAYPublished 11:12 a.m. ET Oct. 4, 2019 | Updated 10:50 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2019

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The drought is affecting almost 50 million people in 15 states.

This week, most of the Deep South has been hotter than Death Valley.

The drought is cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires.

The South has endured a double whammy of blistering heat and a lack of significant rainfall over the past few weeks, triggering what climate experts are calling a “flash drought.” 

The drought, which is affecting almost 50 million people in 15 states, is cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires.

“Typically we look at drought as being a slow onset, slow-developing type phenomenon compared to other disasters that rapidly happen, so this flash drought term came about,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center. “The idea is that it’s more of a rapidly developing drought situation compared to what we typically see.”

The relentless summer heat is forecast to finally come to an end over the next couple of days in many areas of the Deep South, the culmination of a brutal stretch of temperatures more typical of mid-July than early October. 

Scores of records have been set this week with high temperatures soaring into the mid-to upper 90s from Texas to the Carolinas. In fact, from Tuesday through Thursday, 75 locations stretching from the Deep South to the Ohio Valley, eastern Great Lakes and Northeast either tied or set a new all-time October record high, the Weather Channel reported.

This week, most of the Deep South has been hotter than Death Valley, where highs were in the low 90s Wednesday and Thursday, the National Weather Service said.  

“The same stubborn high-pressure ridging that has been predominant over the Southeast U.S. has brought record high temperatures, a drier air mass and lack of rainfall,” David Zierden, state climatologist for Florida, at Florida State University, told the Wall Street Journal. “So it is all tied together.

The heat has been in place for weeks: The U.S. Drought Monitor, published weekly by a consortium of government agencies, said that “many areas had their warmest and driest September on record, accelerating the drought conditions in the region with dryness going back eight to 10 weeks now with associated high temperatures.”

The rapid growth of this drought and continued dry weather into October are largely due to a stuck weather pattern that includes a stagnant bubble of high pressure over the Southeast and a jet stream that continues to pull moisture from northern Mexico into the Midwest without much intrusion into the Southeast, the Weather Channel said.

As a whole, the Earth sweltered through its hottest September on record, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said Friday.

The flash drought has been putting stress on a wide variety of crops across the South, including cotton in Alabama, peanuts in Georgia and tobacco in Virginia.

In Mississippi, wildfires have been on the rise, Gov. Phil Bryant said this week, as he ordered a statewide burn ban. Outdoor burning is also restricted in parts of several other states including Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the drought center.

The drought was also affecting some water supplies across the region, including Georgia’s Lake Lanier, which supplies much of Atlanta’s water.