National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Versions: 1
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AXUS73 KFSD 181814
DGTFSD
IAC021-035-041-059-093-119-141-143-149-167-193-MNC033-063-081-083-
101-105-117-133-NEC043-051-SDC003-005-009-015-023-027-035-043-053-
061-067-073-079-083-087-097-099-101-111-125-127-135-171800-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
115 PM CDT THU APR 18 2013

...DROUGHT CONDITIONS IMPROVING ACROSS THE REGION...

.SYNOPSIS...

THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER /NDMC/ HAS REMOVED ALL
EXCEPTIONAL /D4/ DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION FROM NORTHEASTERN
NEBRASKA...EXTREME NORTHWESTERN IOWA...AND SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH
DAKOTA....AND THE AMOUNT OF THE AREA IN THE OTHER DROUGHT CATEGORIES
HAS SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHED IN THE PAST 2 WEEKS.

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES NOW ARE AT LEAST PARTIALLY CLASSIFIED AS
BEING IN D3 DROUGHT:

SOUTH DAKOTA: GREGORY...CHARLES MIX...BON HOMME...YANKTON...CLAY...
UNION.

NEBRASKA: DAKOTA AND DIXON.

IOWA: PLYMOUTH...WOODBURY.

ACROSS THE REST OF THE REGION...SEVERE /D2/ DROUGHT IS BEING SHOWN
ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHWESTERN IOWA...ALL OF SOUTHWESTERN
MINNESOTA...AND ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 90 IN SOUTH DAKOTA.

MODERATE /D1/ DROUGHT IS BEING SHOWN ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF
SOUTHEASTERN AND EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.

THE PORTION OF SOUTH DAKOTA CLASSIFIED AS D4 HAS DROPPED FROM 20% TO
0% SINCE MID MARCH...WITH THE AREA IN D3 OR HIGHER DECREASING FROM
67% TO 33%...AND D2 OR HIGHER DROPPING FROM 86% TO 69%. IN IOWA...
THE AREA IN D3 OR HIGHER HAS DROPPED FROM 21% TO 2%...AND D2 OR
HIGHER HAS DECREASED FROM 48% TO 32%. ACROSS MINNESOTA...THE AREA IN
D3 OR HIGHER IS DOWN FROM 20% TO 0%...AND D2 OR HIGHER HAS DROPPED
FROM 67% TO 21%.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

THE MAIN IMPACTS THAT ARE BEING SEEN EARLY THIS SPRING ACROSS THE
REGION ARE DECREASED STREAMFLOWS...AND LOWER THAN NORMAL WATER
LEVELS IN LAKES AND PONDS...AND DRY SUB-SOILS. THE U.S. ARMY CORPS
OF ENGINEERS HAS ALSO ANNOUNCED PLANS FOR MINIMAL SPRING RELEASES
FROM THEIR MISSOURI RIVER RESERVOIRS DUE TO BELOW NORMAL SNOWPACK IN
THE MOUNTAINS AND LOWER THAN NORMAL FORECAST RUNOFF LATER THIS
SPRING.

.STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTIONS...

THE STATES OF MINNESOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA HAVE ACTIVATED THEIR
DROUGHT MITIGATION TASK FORCES.

.SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS...

CALCULATED SOIL MOISTURE ANOMALIES ARE SHOWING DEFICITS OF 2 TO 4
INCHES ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION...WHICH IS AN IMPROVEMENT OF 1 TO 2
INCHES SINCE THE END OF MARCH. TOPSOIL MOISTURE IS BEING REPORTED AS
SHORT OR VERY SHORT IN 44% OF SOUTH DAKOTA...22% OF MINNESOTA...AND
26% OF IOWA. SUBSOIL MOISTURE IS BEING REPORTED AT 83% SHORT OR VERY
SHORT IN SOUTH DAKOTA...69% IN IOWA...AND 66% IN MINNESOTA. THE
FROST HAS NEARLY COMPLETELY COME OUT OF THE SOILS IN AREAS ALONG AND
SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 90. THE NORTHERN AREAS STILL HAVE FROST DEPTHS
OF 10 TO 15 INCHES...BUT THE TOP 2 TO 6 INCHES HAVE STARTED THAWING.

.AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS...

RANGELAND AND PASTURE CONDITIONS ARE BEING RATED AS POOR OR VERY
POOR ACROSS 64% IN SOUTH DAKOTA...53% IN IOWA...AND 44% IN MINNESOTA.

.RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS...

STREAMFLOWS ARE RUNNING NEAR NORMAL WHEN COMPARED TO THE MEDIAN
FLOWS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. HOWEVER...WHEN
COMPARED TO THE MEAN FLOW...CURRENT VALUES ARE STILL ONLY 30-60% OF
NORMAL.

.CLIMATE SUMMARY...

TEMPERATURES HAVE AVERAGED 7 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR THE PAST
WEEK FOR MOST AREAS. PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR THE PAST 30 TO 60 DAYS
ARE AVERAGING BETWEEN 100% AND 200% FOR MOST AREAS. FOR THE WATER
YEAR TO DATE...SINCE OCTOBER 1 2012...THE AREAS CLASSIFIED AS D3 ARE
STILL GENERALLY RUNNING AT 50% TO 90% OF NORMAL.

.PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

TEMPERATURES FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR NORMAL
ACROSS THE REGION...WITH NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER 30 DAY OUTLOOK FOR MAY SHOWS EQUAL
CHANCES OF ABOVE NORMAL...NORMAL...AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND
PRECIPITATION. THE 90 DAY OUTLOOK FOR MAY THROUGH JULY ALSO SHOWS
EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE NORMAL...NORMAL...AND BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION.

.HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...

MINOR FLOODING IS LIKELY ON THE JAMES AND MUCH OF THE BIG SIOUX
RIVER IN THE NEXT MONTH OR TWO DUE TO A SIGNIFICANT SNOW PACK THAT
STILL HAS TO MELT OFF IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA. MODERATE TO MAJOR RIVER FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IF WE SEE
NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION COMBINED WITH A VERY RAPID
SNOW MELT IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON THURSDAY MAY 16 UNLESS CONDITIONS OR
FORECASTS CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY.

&&

.RELATED WEB SITES /ALL LOWER CASE LETTERS/...

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
     HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML

NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...
     HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV/

MIDWESTERN REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...
     HTTP://MCC.SWS.UIUC.EDU/INDEX.JSP

MINNESOTA CLIMATOLOGY WORKING GROUP...
     HTTP://CLIMATE.UMN.EDU/

DETAILED CROP INFORMATION AT USDA PUBLICATIONS WEB SITE...
     HTTP://WWW.NASS.USDA.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/STATE_CROP_PROGRESS_AND_
          CONDITION/INDEX.ASP

LOCAL WEATHER...CLIMATE AND WATER INFORMATION...
     HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SIOUXFALLS

ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION -
   USGS - HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/
   COE  - HTTP://WWW.RIVERGAGES.COM/

CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER -
   HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/


.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE
USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN
GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION SERVICES...USDA...COE AND USGS.

.QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS...

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT:

   MIKE GILLISPIE
   HYDROLOGIST AND CLIMATE SERVICES FOCAL POINT
   NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
   SIOUX FALLS SD 57104
   EMAIL: MICHAEL.GILLISPIE@NOAA.GOV

$$

MG
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
