Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region-Update July 8th, 2014

This week's Drought Monitor is the first time since May that the worst category, D4 (Exceptional drought), has decreased, and did so by a moderate amount. It decreased so that now only 0.25% of the High Plains region is in the D4 category. Even more interesting is that we have not been this low since June 26th, 2012!

Other than this, there aren't many other improvements in the drought conditions in the High Plains. The only other category that saw much change was D0 (Abnormally dry) which decreased by 0.84%. 

South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, and Nebraska so virtually no change in this week’s drought update. Colorado saw the most change. D1 (Moderate drought) or worse increased by 4.03%, D3 or worse, decreased by 1.33%, and D4 decreased by 0.67%. 

As for the days ahead, it looks like the region experiencing the worst drought has a lot of rain coming! Parts of southeastern Colorado can expect up to almost five inches of rain, which should bring at least some drought relief! 

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