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High Plains Weekly Drought Update - June 11, 2020
Author: Gannon Rush - High Plains Regional Climate Center
Published: 2020-06-11 17:32:04
Updated:
Drought conditions in Colorado and Kansas continued to degrade this past week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Extreme drought (D3), severe drought (D2), moderate drought (D1), and abnormally dry (D0) conditions all expanded across southeastern Colorado and western Kansas after missing critical precipitation this past week. D1 conditions were introduced and D0 conditions were expanded in north-central Wyoming after continued dryness in the area. D0 conditions were also introduced to extreme southeastern South Dakota and extreme northeastern Nebraska. Slight improvements to D0 conditions occurred this week in northeastern North Dakota, southwestern South Dakota, and northwestern Nebraska.
According to the June 9th USDA Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin, pasture conditions remained in good shape across the High Plains except for Colorado, where 39% of pastures were in poor or very poor condition. Winter wheat conditions improved slightly in Colorado and Kansas with 38% and 24% of winter wheat conditions rated as poor to very poor, respectively. The percentage of topsoil and subsoil moisture that is rated short to very short increased in all High Plains states.
The Climate Prediction Center’s 6-10 day outlook has increased chances for below-normal temperatures in much of Wyoming, western North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota, and northwestern Colorado. Meanwhile, increased chances of above-normal temperatures are favored in Kansas, Nebraska, eastern North Dakota, southeastern Wyoming, and the majority of both Colorado and South Dakota. Increased chances for below-normal precipitation are expected in most of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, southeastern Wyoming, and the majority of South Dakota, while increased chances for above-normal precipitation are favored in the majority of North Dakota, northern Wyoming, and extreme northwestern South Dakota. The National Weather Service’s 7-day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast predicts that the greatest amounts of precipitation will occur across drought-stricken areas of North Dakota and in the mountains of Colorado.
