Weekly High Plains Drought Update - January 4, 2018

Severe Drought Expands into Southwestern Colorado

It was a cold week across the central and eastern High Plains, with wetter conditions to the north and drier weather to the south. In the western High Plains, it was rather warm with temperatures at least 5°F above normal, and it was mostly dry. The drought depiction changed very little this week with the exception of southern and western Colorado, where moderate drought (D1) spread further east across southern Colorado and severe drought (D2) was introduced to the southwestern portion of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Warm and dry conditions have continued to inhibit the snowpack in this region. The following are Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) percent of median values as of January 4th for river basins in southwestern Colorado, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: San Miguel, Dolores, Animas, & San Juan (21%); Upper Rio Grande (30%); and Gunnison (35%).

The Climate Prediction Center's 6-10 day outlook indicates that above-normal temperatures are expected across much of Colorado and the southwestern half of Wyoming, while below-normal temperatures are favored in North Dakota and northeastern South Dakota. The entire High Plains region is favored to have above-normal precipitation. According to the 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast, the greatest amounts of precipitation are expected in mountainous areas of Colorado and Wyoming, as well as extreme eastern Kansas.