[Bubba_Leroy]

I don’t think they are counting the droughts in the 1950s or 1930s as “recent memory.”

[EBH]

Did you bother to click through and read the article...? The last time the U.S. saw a drought close to this level of severity was in the 1980s, Rippey explained. But even compared to that drought, the current conditions may be worse. “You really need to go back to the 1950s to find a drought that lasted and occupied at least as much territory,” Rippey said.

[okie01]

I don’t think they are counting the droughts in the 1950s or 1930s as “recent memory.”

Probably not. But both were worse.

Clue: The Great Plains experience a dry period every 20 years-or-so -- see 1930s, 1950s, 1990s and 2010s. In the 1970s, it was a relatively mild droughts, but we were consumed by the "New Ice Age".

There is a cyclical pattern in there somewhere...

And it generally conforms to the 22-yr sunspot cycle...

[tiki]

We weren’t around in the 30s but we’ve seen pictures it is a little better looking than then but not much.