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Climate of 2003 - August Nebraska
Drought National Climatic Data Center, 12 September 2003
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Statewide Overview /
Paleo Perspective
Statewide Overview
Nebraska had the sixth driest July-August, statewide, in the 109-year record. Some August hightlights:
- As of August 31 USDA reports, 90% of the state's topsoil moisture was rated "poor" to "very poor" and 65% of the state's pasture and range land was rated "poor" to "very poor".
- The drought has taken a toll on streamflow in the state. As noted by the High Plains Regional Climate Center (Kenneth F Dewey), the Platte River, which is the primary east-west river in Nebraska, was dry for the second year in a row in some areas.
- As noted by the State Climatologist (Allen L Dutcher), extremely hot and dry conditions for much of July and August resulted in significant damage to crops in both Nebraska and Kansas.
- Corn was chopped for silage in southeastern, south central and central Nebraska.
- Water was shut off to all irrigators in many areas.
- Water deliveries from Harlan County Reservoir, in south central Nebraska, have been shut down ... first time in
history.
- There was zero flow on the Platte River in east central Nebraska by the end of the month. Limitations were being placed on irrigation withdraws from the Platte river downstream due to the amount of flow moving through the river.
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Paleoclimatic Perspective
Tree-ring data from the central Plains (the eastern two-thirds of Kansas, the western third of Iowa, and all of Nebraska except the panhandle) were analyzed to create a reconstructed summer (June-August) Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for the last 600 years. The top graph to right shows how the reconstruction (from 1900-1990) compares to the observed PDSI (from 1900-2003). Although extreme short-term dryness has occurred in this region during the current drought, the long-term drought conditions as measured by the summer PDSI are not as extreme as the observed droughts of the 1950s and 1930s.
The bottom graph to the right shows the individual summer reconstructed PDSI values for each year (gray curve) and the longer-term variations (red 20-year low pass filtered curve) for 1460-1990. The annual values (gray curve) indicate that summer droughts have been as severe during the last 600 years as the most severe 20th century droughts. Of great interest is the indication (red curve) that prolonged severe droughts have occurred in this region, specifically during the 1850s-1860s, early 1800s, and much of the period from 1460 to 1510.
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larger image (50 K)
graph showing reconstructed Palmer Drought Severity Index for Central Plains, 1460-2003
larger image (170 K)
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The general methodology of the tree-ring reconstructed Palmer index is discussed by Cook et al., 1999. An earlier version of the PDSI reconstructions is available online from the NOAA Paleoclimatology Branch http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pdsi.html (the data displayed will be available in winter 2004).
Reference:
Cook, E.R., D.M. Meko, D.W. Stahle, and M.K. Cleaveland, 1999. "Drought reconstructions for the continental United States." Journal of Climate, 12:1145-1162.
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http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/aug/st025dv00pcp200308.html
Downloaded Saturday, 04-Oct-2008 10:58:54 EDT
Last Updated Friday, 18-Nov-2005 14:11:46 EST by Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
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