Weekly High Plains Drought Update - February 15, 2018

Welcomed Precipitation Leads to Slight Improvement in Drought/Abnormally Dry Conditions, Particularly in Nebraska

Temperature and precipitation patterns varied across the High Plains during the past week, which brought both improvements and degradations in drought conditions, according to the February 13th U.S. Drought Monitor. The biggest story was improvement in conditions across portions of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado, thanks to above-normal precipitation during the past week. The greatest improvements occurred in Nebraska where moderate drought (D1) was removed from the southern Panhandle, and the area of the state experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions (D0-D4) decreased from 57% to 31% during the past week. However, drought worsened in a few areas of Colorado, as severe drought (D2) expanded slightly due to continued warm and dry conditions. Drought conditions remained relatively unchanged in Kansas this past week.

Mountain snowpack in Colorado improved slightly during the past week, as welcomed precipitation fell in areas that most needed it. As of February 15th, statewide Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in Colorado was 70% of median, which was an improvement from the previous week. The southwestern basins where snowpack was in the worst shape also improved, but SWE was still below 50% of median in the Upper Rio Grande and San Miguel, Dolores, Animas & San Juan Basins. However, it was not enough to improve drought conditions. Wyoming snowpack was faring well with the northern half of the state experiencing above-normal SWE, while SWE in southern Wyoming was slightly below normal.

The 6-10 day precipitation outlook from the Climate Prediction Center favors above-normal precipitation in much of Wyoming and eastern Kansas, with below-normal precipitation in eastern Colorado. Temperatures are expected to be below normal for most of the region. According to the 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast, up to an inch of precipitation is expected in mountainous regions of Colorado and Wyoming, as well as western and central South Dakota. Lighter amounts of precipitation are anticipated to occur throughout much of the rest of the region, with the exception of southern Nebraska and western and central Kansas, where it is expected to be dry during the next week.