HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1230 PM CST THU FEB 22 2007
...DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE ACROSS CENTRAL... SOUTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS...
.SYNOPSIS...
DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA OVER
THE LAST MONTH. HOWEVER... MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT /D1 TO D2/ IS
STILL OCCURRING ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WITH THE WORST CONDITIONS
ACROSS FAR SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THE ENTIRE REGION REMAINS BELOW
NORMAL FOR PRECIPITATION DATING BACK TO JANUARY OF 2006. FOR THE
PERIOD OF JANUARY 2006 THROUGH THE END OF JANUARY 2007... RUSSELL
HAD A PRECIPITATION DEFICIT OF OF 5.40 INCHES... SALINA HAD A
DEFICIT OF 7.21 INCHES... WICHITA HAD A DEFICIT OF ONLY 0.65 INCHES
AND CHANUTE HAD A DEFICIT OF A WHOPPING 13.74 INCHES. WITH WARMER
TEMPERATURES OF SPRING JUST AROUND THE CORNER... THE REGION WILL
NEED TO START SEEING MONTHLY PRECIPITATION SURPLUSES TO AVOID GOING
BACK TO MORE SEVERE LEVELS OF DROUGHT.
.LOCAL AREA AFFECTED...
THERE ARE FIVE LEVELS OF INTENSITY DEPICTED ON THE U.S.DROUGHT
MONITOR. THE USDM LEVELS ARE THE FOLLOWING:
D0 - ABNORMALLY DRY... GOING INTO DROUGHT - CAUSES SHORT-TERM
DRYNESS SLOWING PLANTING... GROWTH OF CROPS OR PASTURES AND
ABOVE AVERAGE FIRE RISK. COMING OUT OF DROUGHT - THERE ARE SOME
LINGERING WATER DEFICITS... PASTURES AND CROPS ARE NOT FULLY
RECOVERED.
D1 - MODERATE DROUGHT... SOME DAMAGE TO CROPS OR PASTURES...
HIGH FIRE RISK EXISTS... STREAMS... RESERVOIRS OR WELLS ARE
LOW... SOME WATER SHORTAGES DEVELOP OR ARE IMMINENT AND
VOLUNTARY USE RESTRICTIONS ARE REQUESTED.
D2 - SEVERE DROUGHT... CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES ARE LIKELY... FIRE
RISK IS VERY HIGH... WATER SHORTAGES ARE COMMON... WATER
RESTRICTIONS MAY BE IMPOSED.
D3 - EXTREME DROUGHT... MAJOR CROP AND PASTURE LOSSES... FIRE DANGER
IS EXTREME AND WIDESPREAD WATER SHORTAGES AND RESTRICTIONS ARE
POSSIBLE.
D4 - EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT... EXCEPTIONAL AND WIDESPREAD CROP AND
PASTURE LOSSES... EXCEPTIONAL FIRE DANGER EXISTS... SHORTAGES
OF WATER IN RESERVOIRS... STREAMS... AND WELLS OCCUR CREATING
WATER EMERGENCIES.
D4 - EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE NOT OCCURRING AT THIS TIME
ACROSS ANY PORTION OF CENTRAL... SOUTH CENTRAL OR SOUTHEAST KANSAS.
D3 - EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE NOT OCCURRING AT THIS TIME
ACROSS ANY PORTION OF CENTRAL... SOUTH CENTRAL OR SOUTHEAST KANSAS.
D2 - SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
HARPER AND SUMNER COUNTIES.
D1 - MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING ACROSS ALL OF
KINGMAN... RENO... RICE... MCPHERSON... HARVEY... SEDGWICK...
COWLEY... MARION... BUTLER AND ELK COUNTIES. IN ADDITION... MUCH OF
CHAUTAUQUA... GREENWOOD... AND CHASE COUNTIES AS WELL AS SOUTHERN
SALINE... SOUTHEASTERN ELLSWORTH AND NORTHERN HARPER AND SUMNER
COUNTIES ARE EXPERIENCING MODERATE DROUGHT.
D0 - ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS EXIST ACROSS CENTRAL BARTON AND
ELLSWORTH COUNTIES AS WELL AS SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF RUSSELL AND
LINCOLN COUNTIES.
.STATE AND LOCAL ACTIONS...
THE LATEST COUNTY DROUGHT DECLARATIONS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNOR
INDICATE THAT THE ENTIRE STATE OF KANSAS IS UNDER A DROUGHT WARNING.
A DROUGHT WARNING MEANS THAT A SEVERE DROUGHT EXISTS IN THE STATE
WITH CROP OR PASTURE LOSSES LIKELY... THERE ARE SOME STOCK WATER
SHORTAGES... VERY HIGH RANGELAND FIRE DANGER EXISTS AND SOME PUBLIC
WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGES AND SOME STREAMFLOW TARGETS NOT BEING MET.
.CLIMATE SUMMARY...
THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS PRECIPITATION DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL FOR
THE PERIOD OF JANUARY 2006 THROUGH THE END OF JANUARY 2007 FOR
AREAS REPRESENTING CENTRAL... SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.
RUSSELL SALINA WICHITA CHANUTE
MONTH DEPARTURE DEPARTURE DEPARTURE DEPARTURE
JAN '06 -0.58 -0.66 -0.73 -0.27
FEB -0.78 -1.06 -1.02 -1.90
MAR -0.85 -1.06 -0.43 -1.32
APR -0.52 +0.68 -0.58 +1.66
MAY -2.23 -3.10 +2.60 -0.11
JUN -0.02 +0.47 +2.07 -3.20
JUL -3.06 -3.53 -1.15 -1.79
AUG +2.45 +3.21 +2.99 -1.47
SEP -0.10 -0.64 -2.24 -3.05
OCT -0.17 -0.95 -1.51 -0.98
NOV -0.96 -1.53 -1.36 -1.20
DEC +1.91 +1.37 +0.34 +0.53
JAN '07 -0.49 -0.41 +0.37 -0.64
----- ----- ----- -----
SUM -5.40 -7.21 -0.65 -13.74
.SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS...
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS ARE SEEING SOIL MOISTURE ANOMALIES
OF 20 TO 60 MM (0.78 - 2.36 INCHES) BELOW NORMAL.
.RIVER AND STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS...
MOST OF THE RIVERS ACROSS THE REGION ARE RUNNING AT NEAR NORMAL OR
BELOW NORMAL LEVELS.
.PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
THE LATEST THREE MONTH TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK... VALID
THROUGH MID-MAY... ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER... CALLS
FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE... BELOW OR NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND
PRECIPITATION FOR THE ENTIRE REGION.
.QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT...
CHRIS BOWMAN
DROUGHT FOCAL POINT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2142 SOUTH TYLER RD
WICHITA, KS 67209
316-942-3102
CHRIS.BOWMAN@NOAA.GOV
.RELATED WEB SITES...
US DROUGHT MONITOR HTTP://DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM
KANSAS WATER OFFICE HTTP://WWW.KWO.ORG
US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/WATERWATCH/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/INDEX.HTML
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/ICT
NWS WICHITA DROUGHT PAGE HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ICT/?N=DROUGHT
ALL WEB SITES SHOULD BE IN LOWER CASE CHARACTERS.
.ACKNOWLEDEGMENTS...
THE US DROUGHT MONITOR IS A WEEKLY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN A
NUMBER OF FEDERAL AGENCIES INCLUDING NOAA/NWS... US DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE... STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE
NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT
HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES... THE USGS AND
THE KANSAS WATER OFFICE.
.NEXT ISSUANCE...
THE NEXT ISSUANCE OF THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE
AROUND THE MIDDLE OF MARCH.
$$