Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - May 26, 2015

Widespread wet conditions throughout the plains again this week coupled with near average temperatures led to more drought improvements.

In North Dakota, dryness prevailed which greatly benefitted producers as they were able to continue planting.  No significant changes to drought conditions were made, besides the trimming of D0 (Abnormal Dryness) along the Red River in eastern North Dakota. The opposite was true in South Dakota. While excess rainfall improved drought conditions, it also halted planting. D0 was trimmed back in the Black Hills and central South Dakota.

Cool and wet conditions persisted across much of Nebraska leading to some wheat growers applying fungicide on crops. The damp, cool weather has been favorable for wheat disease development especially in southeastern Nebraska. In southern and western Nebraska wet conditions prompted a one-class drought improvement eliminating Moderate Drought (D1) and Abnormal Dryness. The story was relatively similar for Kansas. However hydrological concerns no longer remain which led to more improvements for western Kansas. There is no longer Severe Drought (D2) or worse in all of Kansas and D1 was significantly eradicated.

In Colorado and Wyoming, moderate rainfall dominated. This has helped to reduce fears of impacts that the low snowpack could have. The recent rains have also greatly improved topsoil conditions and have eased the need to use irrigating equipment. Thus prompted the United States Drought Monitor to make widespread improvements in these two states.

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