Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region-Update July 5

There were a few minor changes to the drought conditions this week in the High Plains Region. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the area of moderate drought (D1) or worse remained relatively constant with only a 0.03% increase, to total 66.68% of the Region. The biggest change this week occurred in the severe drought (D2) or worse category, with a 1% increase in area. The total area of the Region with D2 or worse is now at 46.8%, but this is still a 40% decrease compared to the beginning of the calendar year. The expansion in D2 occurred in western Colorado and central Nebraska. On a state level the increases in D2 area were about 3.5% for Colorado and a little more than 1% for Nebraska. In eastern Kansas this week, an area of abnormally dry conditions (D0) was eliminated, unfortunately the drought stricken western portion of the state did not have any improvement. In Wyoming and South Dakota, conditions remained relatively constant with only minor changes of less than a tenth of a percent for most categories.  And finally, in North Dakota conditions continue to remain drought free for the entire state.

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

To see the impacts of the drought, please see the Drought Impact Reporter here: http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

      Drought Condition (Percent Area): High Plains Region