Drought Conditions Worsen in the High Plains Region

Record setting temperatures and lack of precipitation are gripping most of the High Plains Region. The south and western states in the Region have all seen increases in area of drought for the past three months. The latest release of the U.S. Drought Monitor shows an increase in area of extreme drought (D3) in northwestern Colorado and into southwestern Wyoming. Likewise an area of D3 is increasing in southwestern Kansas. Across the entire Region the area of severe drought (D2) or worse increased by 7% from last week and almost a 17% increase compared to three months ago.  Some relief has been seen this past week with banded thunderstorms passing through the eastern portion of the region. Eastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota have seen improvements, but for the western portions of the states the drought conditions worsen.   To learn more about the U.S. Drought Monitor, please see:  http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu 

Over the past month Colorado has been hardest hit with drought in the Region. On May 15, 2012 no area of the state was in an extreme drought (D3) condition. As of this week over one quarter of the state is in a D3 condition. Check out the table below for the drought conditions over the past month for Colorado. To view more statistics of the High Plains Region and each state check out the Tabular Statistics here: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_highplains.htm

                      Drought Condition (Percent Area): Colorado