Weekly High Plains Drought Update - March 29, 2018

Scattered precipitation across the High Plains led to several improvements in drought conditions according to this week’s US Drought Monitor. Small areas of moderate drought (D1) conditions in south central Wyoming and extreme southeastern Kansas were reduced, while severe drought (D2) conditions were also reduced in western Colorado and western North Dakota. Southern areas of the region in drought in western South Dakota improved as well. Although extreme drought (D3) conditions were improved in western Colorado, D3 conditions were expanded in south central Colorado. Drought conditions in southwestern Kansas, which has received less than 50% of normal precipitation in the past 60 days, was degraded to exceptional drought (D4) this past week.

Snowpack improvements continued this week in Colorado with a new statewide snow water equivalent (SWE) of 72% of median, while Wyoming’s statewide SWE remained above 100% of median. With the start of the growing season approaching, the USDA’s Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin for March 27th reports the following topsoil moisture percentages rated short to very short for each state: Colorado (63%), Kansas (69%), Nebraska (4423%), North Dakota (44%), South Dakota (36%), and Wyoming (29%).

The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook is favoring below-normal temperatures for eastern Kansas, eastern Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota while above-normal temperatures are favored in Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. Above-normal precipitation is also favored for nearly all of the High Plains. The 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast is predicting precipitation across most of the High Plains, excluding southwestern Kansas and southern and eastern Colorado, with the highest amounts expected in northwestern Wyoming.