July 2016 Climate Summary Now Available

Overview - Precipitation Extremes

The month of July brought a variety of climate conditions to the High Plains region, as some places were wet while others were dry, and temperatures were both cool and warm at times. The western High Plains experienced warmer and drier conditions, causing streamflows to run low and drought to expand and intensify in western South Dakota/northeastern Wyoming. In Colorado, top 10 records for warmest July were set in Pueblo (2nd warmest), Alamosa (6th warmest), and Colorado Springs (7th warmest). Several locations in Wyoming had a top 5 driest July, including Lander (tied for driest), Rawlins (4th driest), Casper (4th driest), and Laramie (5th driest). In the eastern High Plains, many locations enjoyed unseasonably cool temperatures over the 4th of July weekend, but a heat wave occurred in the latter part of the month, prompting the issuance of excessive heat warnings by the National Weather Service. It was also much wetter in this part of the region, and top 10 records for wettest July were set in North Dakota at Bismarck (6th wettest), Dickinson (7th wettest), and Fargo (10th wettest), as well as Wichita, Kansas (2nd wettest).

The climate conditions in July impacted several sectors around the region. The heat wave that was previously mentioned caused stress to spring wheat in South Dakota and fledglings in the northern Plains and into the Midwest. Soil moisture declined in July across most of the region except North Dakota, and crop stress was evident in areas where drought was present. The occurrence of wildfires increased, particularly across Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota. However, above-normal temperatures over the past few months have had positive impacts such as accelerated crop growth in the Dakotas, and ideal field conditions have allowed small grains to be harvested much earlier than usual. Additionally, timely rainfall in the eastern Dakotas brought beneficial moisture as corn was beginning to tassel, and row crop conditions improved. In Kansas, cooler and wetter weather benefited developing sorghum, but a storm system that brought excessive rainfall in early July caused flooding in and around the city of Wichita.

For more information on temperature, precipitation, and impacts from climate in July in the High Plains region, please see the link to the full PDF of the summary: http://hprcc.unl.edu/climatesummaries.php