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Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains - September 22, 2015
Author: Judson Buescher - High Plains Regional Climate Center
Published: 2015-09-24 23:30:34
Updated:
As unseasonably warm weather remained, or worsened, over the plains, a large portion of our region saw degradations in the drought monitor. Abnormal Dryness (D0) and Moderate Drought (D1) remained or expanded in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. Over the past 60 days precipitation deficits are starting to become more pronounced with rainfall at or below 50% of average in the spots labeled D0. The D1 spots have less than 25% of average precipitation over the past 60 days.
Despite year-to-date precipitation averaging near to above normal, Abnormal Dryness (D0) expanded over southeastern South Dakota and immediate environs where 90-day rainfall has totaled 60 percent of normal or less (locally less than 40 percent). Similar precipitation deficits were noted in the newly introduced D0 over eastern Wyoming, while 60-day rainfall totaling a meager 15 to 40 percent of normal led to the expansion of Abnormal Dryness into southwestern South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Farther west, below-normal temperatures were accompanied by periods of rain (1-2 inches, locally more), though rain was generally not sufficient to alleviate longer-term (9 months and beyond) precipitation deficits.
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/sdo_summary.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/
Check out the table below for the drought conditions over the past 2 months for the High Plains Region.
To view statistics of the High Plains Region and each state check out the Regional Statistics here:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/MapsAndData/DataTables.aspx
Drought Condition (Percent Area): High Plains Region
|
Date |
None |
D0-D4 |
D1-D4 |
D2-D4 |
D3-D4 |
D4 |
|
09/22/2015 |
79.98 |
21.02 |
0.82 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
09/15/2015 |
86.37 |
13.63 |
0.42 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
09/08/2015 |
86.30 |
13.70 |
0.16 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
09/01/2015 |
91.92 |
8.08 |
0.16 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
08/25/2015 |
93.79 |
6.21 |
0.16 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
08/18/2015 |
93.89 |
6.11 |
0.10 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
08/11/2015 |
93.24 |
6.76 |
0.10 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
08/04/2015 |
84.89 |
15.02 |
0.67 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
07/28/2015 |
84.98 |
15.02 |
0.67 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |