Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - Update

Drought conditions worsen again this week in the High Plains Region. Record setting temperatures and lack of precipitation are plaguing the area. The Region has seen an increase of 7.4% in area of moderate drought (D1) or worse from last week. The latest release of the U.S. Drought Monitor shows an increase in area of extreme drought (D3) in Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas.

During this past week, the percent area of D3 in western Kansas went from 0.89% to 17.66%. Across the entire Region, the area of severe drought (D2) or worse increased another 25%. Again this week, some relief was seen when banded thunderstorms moved through southeast Nebraska and northeast Kansas. Area of D1 and D2 decreased in the parts of the states where rain totals were 1-3 inches. The western portions of Nebraska and Kansas that did not see any rain, the drought area increased considerably. To learn more about the U.S. Drought Monitor, please see: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu 

Wyoming this week saw their drought condition worsen. Area of D1 or worse increased almost 30% from last week. Area of D2 or worse has increased about 82% from three months ago, to total 84.25% of the state today. Check out the table below for the drought conditions over the past month for Wyoming. 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): Wyoming