Update on Drought Conditions in the High Plains Region - June 30, 2015

Surprisingly, not much happened weather-wise in our neck of the woods this week. The High Plains region experienced relative dryness with only spotty precipitation in a couple of our states. Temperatures were above normal for a majority of the region. No drastic changes in the weather pattern has led the U.S. Drought Monitor to leave the drought conditions exactly the same as last week’s.

Near average rainfall of around one inch fell across portions of North Dakota. This halted hay harvesting for a little bit and caused minor flooding in already saturated fields. While in South Dakota much of the western part of the state received above average rainfall last week. But this was quickly followed by relatively dry conditions allowing for producers to continue haying and crop spraying.

Southeastern and Northern Nebraska received rainfall in excess of one inch with near normal temperatures. Pipes are starting to be laid in southern counties to begin irrigation. Thanks to a relatively dry week, the late planting of crops is almost complete. In Kansas, northeast portions of the state saw over one inch of rain, and most of the state had temperatures three to five degrees above normal.

And along the Front Range sustained warm, dry conditions supported full-scale field operations and accelerated crop development in most localities. Colorado also had modest winter wheat harvesting taking place.

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