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High Plains Weekly Drought Update - February 21, 2019
Author: Emily Brown - High Plains Regional Climate Center
Published: 2019-02-21 16:59:57
Updated:
Improvement of drought conditions continued this week in the High Plains region. The area of abnormally dry (D0) conditions in northwestern Wyoming was reduced after above-normal precipitation fell. Beneficial precipitation also fell in western Colorado, leading to the improvement of extreme (D3) drought conditions in Colorado’s drought-stricken southwestern basins. However, drought conditions in Nebraska and North Dakota neither improved nor degraded due to the current cold spell and snow cover.
Statewide snowpack in both Wyoming and Colorado remained above normal. Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) remained near normal in the majority of Wyoming’s basins, while SWE was well above normal in all of Colorado’s basins.
The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook has increased chances of below-normal temperatures throughout all of the High Plains region. Increased chances for above-normal precipitation are present throughout Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, northern Kansas, northern Colorado, and southwestern North Dakota. However, southern Colorado and extreme southern Kansas are favored to receive below-normal precipitation. According to the 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast, precipitation is likely throughout most of the High Plains with the highest amounts expected in the mountainous regions of Colorado and Wyoming, as well as central Kansas and southeastern Nebraska.
