TOPPNSGLD
NOUS43 KGLD 210935
PNSGLD
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
235 AM MST TUE MAR 21 2006
...DROUGHT SUMMARY...
...SUMMARY OF DROUGHT MONITOR...
IN THE MARCH 14TH RELEASE OF THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...MODERATE
DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE TRI STATE
AREA EXCEPT EASTERN COLORADO...WHERE ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS
CONTINUE. IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPING DROUGHT IN KANSAS WERE BOTH
AGRICULTURAL AND HYDROLOGICAL...WHILE IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS THE
IMPACTS WERE CLASSIFIED AS PRIMARILY HYDROLOGICAL.
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...
PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE ENTIRE TRI STATE AREA IN
FEBRUARY WITH BURLINGTON COLORADO AND HILL CITY KANSAS ONLY RECEIVING
A TRACE OF PRECIPITATION. MCCOOK NEBRASKA RECORDED A TOTAL OF 0.03
INCHES OF RAIN. GOODLAND KANSAS RECEIVED 0.07 INCHES OF SNOWFALL.
COOP REPORTS FROM NEARLY THE ENTIRE AREA WERE SIMILAR TO THESE. NORMAL
PRECIPITATION RANGES FROM JUST ABOVE FOUR TENTHS OF AN INCH IN THE
WESTERN PORTION OF THE AREA TO JUST ABOVE SIX TENTHS IN THE EASTERN
PORTION.
STREAM AND RIVERS WERE FLOWING AT BELOW NORMAL LEVELS.
...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 MARCH 14 2006.
PRECIPITATION ENDING FEBRUARY 28 2006.
DROUGHT PERCENT NORMAL OF PRECIPITATION
COUNTY LEVEL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH 12-MONTH
------ ------- --------- --------- ---------
YUMA D0 35 40 110
KIT CARSON D0 5 25 115
CHEYENNE CO D0 5 80 125
DUNDY D1 50 50 100
CHEYENNE KS D1 25 50 95
SHERMAN D1 10 50 85
WALLACE D1 10 30 95
GREELEY D1 10 50 105
HITCHCOCK D1 10 25 100
RAWLINS D1 10 30 95
THOMAS D1 10 40 105
LOGAN D1 10 60 110
WICHITA D1 10 75 115
RED WILLOW D1 10 25 105
DECATUR D1 10 15 110
SHERIDAN D1 10 25 115
GOVE D1 10 35 105
NORTON D1 10 15 105
GRAHAM D1 10 20 105
...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 MARCH 18 2006 THESE ARE THE CURRENT LONG TERM
PDSI NUMBERS FOR THE TRI STATE AREA:
STATE CLIMATE DIVISION (NO.) PDSI CATEGORY
----- ---------------------- ----- ------------
KS NORTHWEST (1) -0.97 NEAR NORMAL
KS WEST CENTRAL (4) -1.24 MILD DROUGHT
NE SOUTHWEST (7) -0.95 NEAR NORMAL
CO KS DRAINAGE BASIN (3) -1.00 MILD DROUGHT
...LOCAL RESERVOIR LEVELS AS OF END OF FEBRUARY 2006...
STORAGE CONTENT
END OF MONTH LAST MONTH PERCENT OF
RESERVOIR (ACRE-FEET) (ACRE-FEET) AVERAGE FULL
--------------- ----------- ----------- ------- ----
BONNY RESERVOIR 12596 12420 34 30
SWANSON LAKE 37986 36573 46 34
KEITH SEBELIUS LAKE 8626 8515 63 25
HARRY STRUNK LAKE 30563 28685 92 86
ENDERS RESERVOIR 11846 11691 40 28
HUGH BUTLER LAKE 20749 20529 69 57
...OUTLOOKS...
THE LATEST SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK WAS RELEASED BY THE CLIMATE
PREDICTION CENTER ON MARCH 16 AND IS VALID THROUGH JUNE 2006.
THE LATE MARCH WINTER STORM WILL BRING SOME TEMPORARY RELIEF TO THE
AREA...HOWEVER THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT THE SPRING WILL BE DRY AND
WARM. AS A RESULT...MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO
PERSIST OR REDEVELOP...WITH POSSIBLE FURTHER EXPANSION INTO EASTERN
COLORADO.
$$
JDK
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