Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - January 8, 2015

It was a bitterly cold week across the High Plains region, as much of the area has been under the influence of an Arctic air mass. The region where Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas meet experienced temperatures as much as 15°F below normal. The only changes to the U.S. Drought Monitor for our region this week came from Kansas, where the state experienced both slight improvement and slight degradation in drought conditions. A small part of the region in extreme drought (D3) in southwestern Kansas improved, but severe drought (D2) conditions spread slightly further eastward into south-central Kansas. Elsewhere in the region, it was status quo.

The next week is expected to be dry across much of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and northern Kansas, while most of Wyoming and Colorado, as well as the southern half of Kansas, have a better chance for seeing precipitation this week, although amounts are expected to be light.

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