March 2017 Climate Summary Now Available

Overview - Warm, Dry Conditions Spark Wildfires Across the Region

Warm weather continued into March across a large portion of the High Plains region, with the greatest departures occurring throughout Wyoming and Colorado. This March was the warmest on record for Alamosa, Colorado, Laramie, Wyoming, and Rawlins, Wyoming, with numerous locations experiencing a March that was among the top 5 warmest. Warm temperatures continued to accelerate plant growth and, according to the National Phenology Network, growth was a couple weeks ahead of schedule in the central and southern High Plains. Early growth of plants has put them at risk for freeze damage, as much of the region is several weeks away from the average last spring freeze. However, the warm weather has contributed to early calving in some areas and has allowed producers to begin prepping their fields for planting.

Wet conditions continued in the Wyoming portion of the Rockies, while it was dry along the Colorado Front Range. Snowpack fared well in Wyoming and Colorado during March as we near the end of the first half of the snowpack season. On the other hand, a continuation of warm and dry conditions caused drought to expand across eastern Colorado and Kansas. Topsoil moisture and pasture conditions declined during March, and concerns over winter wheat were growing. Most notably, wildfires raged across this region, spreading quickly due to high winds. The Northwest Oklahoma Complex fires impacted parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in early March. One of the fires burned over 800 square miles of Clark and Comanche Counties in southern Kansas, killing six people and thousands of cattle. Thousands of miles of fences were burned too, which may cost $10,000 per mile to replace. This fire became the largest single wildfire in Kansas’ history, a record that was set just a year ago by the Anderson Creek fire. Later in March, a fire started in the Sunshine Canyon area near Boulder, Colorado, forcing many people to evacuate. While wildfires are not uncommon in these areas in the early spring, the areas they have burned have been quite large. Although heavy rainfall at the end of March brought some drought relief to the region, more moisture will be needed in April to mitigate wildfire conditions. 

For more information on temperature, precipitation, and impacts from climate in March in the High Plains region, please see the link to the full PDF of the summary: http://hprcc.unl.edu/climatesummaries.php