Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - October 2, 2014

This week was a mixed bag in terms of changes in drought conditions across the High Plains region. Drought conditions improved in Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska, but it intensified in Kansas. It has been a rather wet monsoon across the U.S. Southwest region this year, which has allowed for ample moisture to reach parts of Wyoming and Colorado and help improve drought conditions there. D1 (moderate) drought was removed from southern Wyoming, and the region generally received a 1-category improvement overall. A slight improvement in drought conditions occurred in southwest Colorado as well. D0 (abnormally dry) was removed from the Nebraska panhandle and parts of southeast Nebraska, which received ample rainfall last week.

Drought conditions did not improve in Kansas this week. D3 (extreme) drought was extended slightly in southwest Kansas, D2 (severe) drought spread across south-central Kansas, and D0 was introduced to a greater area in southeast Kansas. The expansion of drought is mostly due to poor soil moisture and pasture/rangeland conditions across parts of the state.

Next week looks to be rather dry across much of the High Plains region with the exception of northeast North Dakota and southeast Nebraska. An upper-level trough and associated cold front will cause precipitation to be concentrated in the Great Lakes region and eastern parts of the Corn Belt.

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