Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region-Update May 27, 2014

This week's drought conditions were fairly stagnant considering the above normal amounts of rain that areas in the southern High Plains witnessed over the week. Areas in southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, where drought conditions are the worst, received 2 inches of rain in some locations with hardly any change in drought conditions.

Overall the amount of drought conditions shrunk by just a little bit. The moderate drought category (D1) or worse actually dropped by about 0.50% in the High Plains. Severe drought (D2) or worse saw an increase by nearly 1%, and the Region's extreme drought category (D3) or worse saw an increase by about 0.30%.

As mentioned earlier, Southwestern Kansas, which received locally heavy amounts of rain witnessed the smallest change in drought conditions. The only category that changed was exceptional drought (D4) by almost a quarter of a percent. As for Colorado the previously mentioned area of exceptional drought has had no change in the past week. In fact the only category that changed was D1-D4 which shrunk by almost 3%. And as for Nebraska, unfortunately, the state saw an increase in extreme drought by 2%, an increase in severe drought by 4%, and a decrease in all other categories. 

A look towards the future shows Nebraska and Kansas receiving some much needed rain. Some areas in eastern Nebraska and eastern Kansas can expect around two inches over the next seven days according to the Weather Prediction Center's Quantitative Precipitation Forecast, which will hopefully lead to some drought improvements in the Region.

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/

      Drought Condition (Percent Area): High Plains Region