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Last week at this time it seemed like drought was starting to make an unwanted appearance over parts of Nebraska. However, there also was a forecast of significant rainfall for much of the state. Thankfully that forecast for rain came to fruition for many locations, particularly in southwestern and central Nebraska.

 

The biggest winner was McCook, which received a soaking ~ 2 inch rain early last week and had an increase in the SMI from a dismal -4.5 to a very respectable 0.3. Other stations with notable improvements were Champion, North Platte, Cedar Point, and Elgin. Many others in central and south central Nebraska increased by +1.0-1.5 too over the past week and the Agrofarm site at Mead also saw a nice boost to the soil profile. Thus, most of the NASS Crop Reporting Division averages improved nicely over the past week and better still, we are back to four of the eight divisions being above 0.0. 

 

It is safe to say that many of the areas in the state that needed a good rainfall last week received it. This may dampen the talk about drought (no pun intended) for a little while at least in parts of southwestern and south central Nebraska. However, with a relatively dry week ahead those improvements may be short-lived and the dreaded "D" word will be back into our vocabulary sooner than later if last week ends up being just a brief reprieve... 

 

** The Soil Moisture Index (SMI) is based on the estimated field capacity and wilting point at three depths (10 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm) at Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) sites under grass cover. The index may not necessarily be representative of conditions of a nearby field, particularly if differences in total precipitation over the previous week have been significant. **