Drought Grips the Southern Plains

Extreme heat associated with a strong upper level ridge crippled the Southern Plains this July causing persistent drought conditions in the region.  The latest release of the U.S. Drought Monitor shows an increase in area of exceptional drought (D4) in south central Kansas.  Other locations of persistent D4 drought conditions in the High Plains Region include southwestern Kansas and south central Colorado.  Extreme drought (D3) has also expanded into southwestern Kansas and persists in southeastern Colorado.  To learn more about the U.S. Drought Monitor, please see:  http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/.

Along with record-setting temperatures across the region, this year’s lack of precipitation in the exceptional drought-stricken areas is comparable to that experienced in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, or worse!  Dodge City, Kan broke the record for the driest January-July on record.  The station has only received about 4 inches of precipitation since the beginning of the year (period of record 1874-2011), beating the record set in 2002 when the station recorded 5.71 inches.  Two more stations in Kansas topped the charts for the driest January-July on record and include: Elkhart (period of record 1900-2011) and Ashland (period of record 1900-2011).