Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - January 29, 2015

The warm and dry weather continued last week in the High Plains region, resulting in the expansion of dry and drought conditions. Much of the region, especially the northern Plains, have been 15-20°F above normal the past two weeks, and most of the region has been very dry as well. Despite minimal impacts due to the time of year, it was necessary to expand dry and drought conditions. In North Dakota, moderate drought (D1) was expanded further north to encompass east-central North Dakota. In Kansas, abnormally dry conditions (D0) were expanded further in the northeastern part of the state so that just under 100% of Kansas is at least abnormally dry, if not in drought. The Rockies have been warm and dry as well, which led to the expansion of D0 conditions in western Colorado and south-central Wyoming.

Cooler temperatures are expected to return to the High Plains region in the next week, and a storm system could bring precipitation to the southern part of the region this weekend. Eastern Kansas is predicted to get the most precipitation during the next 7 days.

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