Weekly High Plains Drought Update - March 8, 2018

Precipitation varied across the High Plains this week, with above-normal precipitation in northeast Nebraska, western Wyoming, and the Dakotas, while elsewhere experienced drier conditions. The welcomed precipitation in South Dakota led to improvements in drought conditions, which included an improvement from moderate drought (D1) to abnormally dry (D0) conditions in the eastern part of the state. However, an area of D1 and severe drought (D2) conditions expanded in western South Dakota. Also, the lack of precipitation in Kansas and Colorado led to several degradations. For instance, D2 conditions expanded in southeastern Colorado and central Kansas. The extreme drought (D3) in both southern Colorado and southern Kansas expanded, while exceptional drought (D4) was introduced on the Oklahoma-Kansas border. Despite it being wintertime, the drought has caused some impacts. For example, 50% of the winter wheat in Kansas was rated poor to very poor this week, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin.

Colorado’s snowpack remains below normal, with the statewide snow water equivalent (SWE) at 69% of median. Meanwhile, the state of Wyoming remains above 100% of median despite lower SWE values in the Lower North Platte basin.

 The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center’s 6 - 10 day outlook favors above-normal temperatures for most of the High Plains, with the exception of western North Dakota, which has a likelihood of below-normal temperatures. Continued below-normal precipitation is favored for southern Kansas and southeastern Colorado, while above-normal precipitation is likely in most of the rest of the High Plains. The Quantitative Precipitation 7-day Forecast is predicting precipitation in much of the High Plains, with the highest amounts expected in mountainous areas of Colorado and Wyoming as well as eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, and south-central South Dakota.