PNSGLD
NOUS43 KGLD 182150
PNSGLD
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
250 PM MST WED JAN 18 2006
...DROUGHT SUMMARY...
...SUMMARY OF DROUGHT MONITOR...
IN THE JANUARY 10TH RELEASE OF THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...MODERATE
DROUGHT CONDITIONS PERSISTED ACROSS SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. THE IMPACTS
IN THIS AREA WERE PRIMARILY HYDROLOGICAL (WATER) AND NOT
AGRICULTURAL. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS WERE INDICATED ALONG AND
NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 IN NORTHWEST KANSAS...AS THOSE AREAS CONTINUE
TO RECOVER FROM THE DROUGHT OF THE PAST FEW YEARS. ELSEWHERE...NO
DROUGHT WAS INDICATED ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO OR THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF THE TRI STATE AREA.
THE DROUGHT MONITOR FOCUSES ON BROAD-SCALE CONDITIONS. LOCAL
CONDITIONS MAY VARY.
THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR IS A WEEKLY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN A
NUMBER OF FEDERAL AGENCIES INCLUDING NOAA/NWS...THE U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE...AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER.
...HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY...
NEARLY THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA RECEIVED BELOW TO MUCH BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. THE ONLY LOCATIONS TO
RECEIVE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION WERE IN WICHITA COUNTY AND THE
NORTHERN PORTION OF YUMA COUNTY. MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION FELL IN
THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH. A MAJORITY OF LOCATIONS RECEIVED
BETWEEN ONE TO TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION.
HOWEVER...MANY LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE
AREA...RECEIVED LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH. NORMAL PRECIPITATION
RANGES FROM NEAR A THIRD OF AN INCH IN THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE
AREA TO AROUND A HALF INCH IN THE EASTERN PORTION.
STREAMS WERE FLOWING AT NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF
YEAR.
...LOCAL AREAS IMPACTED...
DROUGHT LEVELS...
D0 -- ABNORMALLY DRY OR RECOVERING FROM DROUGHT
D1 -- MODERATE DROUGHT
D2 -- SEVERE DROUGHT
D3 -- EXTREME DROUGHT
D4 -- EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT
PERCENT NORMALS OF PRECIPITATION ARE THE AVERAGE ACROSS A COUNTY FOR
THE INDICATED PERIOD. LOCAL CONDITIONS MAY VARY. A VALUE OF 100
WOULD BE THE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMAL...A VALUE OF 50 WOULD BE HALF OF
NORMAL AND CONSIDERED DRY...WHILE A VALUE OF 200 WOULD BE TWICE
NORMAL AND CONSIDERED VERY WET.
DROUGHT LEVEL AS OF JANUARY 10 2006.
PRECIPITATION ENDING DECEMBER 31 2005.
DROUGHT PERCENT NORMAL OF PRECIPITATION
COUNTY LEVEL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH 12-MONTH
------ -------- --------- --------- ---------
YUMA NONE 75 200 110
KIT CARSON NONE 60 250 110
CHEYENNE CO NONE 40 200 120
DUNDY D1 70 165 110
CHEYENNE KS D0 40 170 95
SHERMAN D0 35 140 85
WALLACE D0 60 160 85
GREELEY NONE 65 175 105
HITCHCOCK D1 35 130 100
RAWLINS D0 35 140 95
THOMAS D0 20 135 105
LOGAN NONE 90 145 110
WICHITA NONE 175 150 120
RED WILLOW D1 75 120 110
DECATUR D0 35 120 110
SHERIDAN NONE 30 125 115
GOVE NONE 60 135 110
NORTON D0 30 115 115
GRAHAM NONE 50 120 115
...PALMER DROUGHT SEVERITY INDEX...
THE PALMER DROUGHT SEVERITY INDEX (PDSI) IS ONE OF THE OLDEST AND
MOST WIDELY USED MEASURES FOR ASSESSING METEOROLOGICAL DROUGHT IN
THE U.S. IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED BACK FOR OVER 100 YEARS AND ALLOWS
FOR LONG-TERM DROUGHT COMPARISONS. SINCE THESE ARE DONE FOR
CLIMATOLOGICAL ZONES OVER MANY COUNTIES...THERE MAY BE SOME
DIFFERENCES DUE TO LOCAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AND DIFFERENT TIME
PERIODS.
THE CATEGORIES FOR THE PDSI ARE AS FOLLOWS:
EXTREME DROUGHT : -4.00 OR LESS
SEVERE DROUGHT : -3.00 TO -3.99
MODERATE DROUGHT : -2.00 TO -2.99
MILD DROUGHT : -1.00 TO -1.99
NEAR NORMAL : +0.99 TO -0.99
MOIST SPELL : +1.00 TO +1.99
UNUSUAL MOIST SPELL : +2.00 TO +2.99
VERY MOIST : +3.00 TO +3.99
EXTREMELY MOIST : +4.00 OR MORE
AS OF THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 14 2006 THESE ARE THE CURRENT LONG TERM
PDSI NUMBERS FOR THE TRI STATE AREA:
STATE CLIMATE DIVISION (NO.) PDSI CATEGORY
----- --------------------- ----- ------------
KS NORTHWEST (1) -0.37 NEAR NORMAL
KS WEST CENTRAL (4) -0.16 NEAR NORMAL
NE SOUTHWEST (7) -0.41 NEAR NORMAL
CO KS DRAINAGE BASIN (3) +0.06 NEAR NORMAL
...LOCAL RESERVOIR LEVELS AS OF END OF DECEMBER 2005...
STORAGE CONTENT
END OF MONTH LAST MONTH PERCENT OF
RESERVOIR (ACRE-FEET) (ACRE-FEET) AVERAGE FULL
----------- ----------- ----------- ------- ----
BONNY 12265 12243 35 30
SWANSON 35068 35017 48 31
HARRY STRUNK 26833 24471 92 75
...OUTLOOKS...
THE LATEST SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK WAS RELEASED BY THE CLIMATE
PREDICTION CENTER ON DECEMBER 15 AND IS VALID THROUGH MARCH 2006.
MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST ACROSS PORTIONS
OF SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. ELSEWHERE IN THE TRI STATE AREA...DROUGHT
DEVELOPMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
$$
JDK
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