Drought Condtions in the High Plains Region-Update May 16

With little wide spread precipitation, drought conditions maintained relatively steady this week across the High Plains Region. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the area of moderate drought (D1) or worse decreased by 2% this week, to total 80.56% of the Region. The area of severe drought (D2) or worse decreased just 1% this week after a 3% reduction last week. The total area of D2 or worse in the Region is at 65.20%. As with D2, the area of extreme drought (D3) decreased by a little over 1%, to total 29.25% of the Region. This is the least area of D3 the Region has had since the middle of July last year. According to the Climate Prediction Center which releases the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook, the areas of D3 across the Region will continue to see improvement over the next three months. A link to this outlook is provided below. The area of exceptional drought (D4) did see marginal improvement this week. Locations with D4 conditions, which decreased in southern Colorado and western Kansas, had a reduction of 0.6% total area of the Region. Referring back to the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook, the current areas of D4 will continue to persist through the end of August. With precipitation currently falling in Region’s northern states and thunderstorms predicted for this weekend, the drought conditions are likely to improve.

To learn more about the U.S. Drought Monitor, please see: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

To see the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook, please see the Climate Prediction Center here: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/seasonal_drought.html

To see the areas of agriculture affected by the drought, please see the USDA link: http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/Drought/AgInDrought.pdf

      Drought Condition (Percent Area): High Plains Region