Weekly High Plains Drought Update - December 14, 2017

Dryness Continues to Spread Across High Plains

Continued dryness resulted in the introduction of abnormally dry conditions (D0) across a large portion of the High Plains, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor. Below-normal precipitation has been evident across the southern High Plains since mid-October, which prompted further expansion of D0 across eastern Colorado, western and eastern Kansas, and southwestern and central Nebraska. The U.S. Drought Monitor map for December 12th indicates that dryness or drought (D0-D4) covers approximately 77% of the High Plains region. Furthermore, conditions worsened in south-central Kansas, as this area was degraded from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2) conditions.

Mountain snowpack continues to struggle in Colorado due to warm and dry weather. As of December 14th, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) was only 54% of median statewide, with snowpack faring the worst in the southwestern portion of the state. Meanwhile, snowpack was faring much better in Wyoming, with basins in the northern half of the state reporting SWE that was well above median. As for Plains snowpack, outside of mountainous areas it was rather non-existent, with only pockets of the Dakotas and northwestern Nebraska having snow on the ground. Many locations across the High Plains have experienced below-normal season-to-date snowfall.

For the next 6-10 days, the Climate Prediction Center is calling for below-normal temperatures across northern portions of North Dakota and Wyoming, while above-normal temperatures are favored across southern Wyoming, the southern half of Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. Above-normal precipitation is expected in North Dakota, most of Wyoming and Colorado, and western and central South Dakota and Nebraska. Below-normal precipitation is favored for eastern Nebraska, as well as central and eastern Kansas. The 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast indicates the heaviest precipitation falling in Wyoming, with lighter amounts possible across northern and central Colorado, North Dakota, northern and western South Dakota, and western Nebraska.