Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - September 11th, 2014

The major drought story of the week in the High Plains region is the improvement of drought conditions across Kansas and Nebraska. A potent storm system brought heavy rains to southeastern Nebraska and central and eastern Kansas, where as much as 2-3 inches of rain fell. Last week, over 50 percent  of Kansas was in D1 (moderate) drought, but this week, it has dropped to just over 30 percent. The areas in Kansas that were in D2 (severe) drought last week dropped from about 13 percent to about 10 percent this week. Pockets of Kansas experienced a 2-class improvement in the Drought Monitor from last week. In Nebraska, D1 drought was completely removed, and D0 was removed from parts of southwestern Nebraska. This week, nearly 1.2 million people were being affected by drought in the High Plains, which is down from just over 1.6 million last week. Elsewhere, it was status quo, and it was mostly a dry week.

Looking ahead, up to an inch of rain is forecasted to fall over drought-stricken areas of southeastern Colorado and western Kansas, which will hopefully improve drought conditions in those areas. A couple of interesting things to note is that much of Wyoming and the western half of North Dakota are expected to see their first freeze of the season tonight, which is on par with the climate normals for the first fall freeze in these areas. Also, it is snowing in Rapid City, SD! According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Rapid City, this is the earliest recorded snowfall going back to 1888!

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/DataArchive/Tables.aspx?high_plains

  Drought Condition (Percent Area): High Plains Region