The latest seasonal outlooks (through November 30, 2024) are hot off the presses from the #Climate Prediction Center
Day: August 15, 2024
#Drought news August 15, 2024: Parts of S.W. #Nebraska, #Kansas, #Colorado, and S.E. #Wyoming saw heavier rains, recent rainfall led to local improvements to ongoing short-term moderate drought along the #Utah-Colorado border
Click on a thumbnail graphic to view a gallery of drought data from the US Drought Monitor website.
Click the link to go to the US Drought Monitor website. Here’s an excerpt:
This Week’s Drought Summary
Widespread improvements to ongoing areas of abnormal dryness or drought continued across parts of the eastern United States this week as the remnants of Hurricane Debby moved up the Atlantic Coast. Locally over 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the eastern Carolinas, while widespread rain amounts of at least an inch or two (locally much higher) were common through the eastern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. In these areas of heavier rains, one- or two-category improvements to ongoing drought or abnormal dryness were widespread. In eastern portions of the Midwest and across much of the Southeast and south-central United States (except for Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle), primarily dry weather prevailed, mostly leading to unchanged or worsening drought or abnormal dryness. Swaths of heavy rain fell in parts of northwest Missouri, Oklahoma, northeast New Mexico, Colorado, and southeast Wyoming, leading to localized improvements in drought or abnormal dryness in these areas. The central and north-central United States were mostly cooler than normal this week, especially from Kansas north into the Dakotas and Minnesota, where temperatures from 6 to 12 degrees below normal were widespread. Near- or warmer-than-normal temperatures were common in the West, with the warmest temperatures of 3 to 9 degrees above normal primarily occurring in California, Nevada, and Utah. The eastern United States saw a mix of above- and below-normal temperatures, though most places finished the week within 3 degrees of normal…
High Plains
Mostly cooler-than-normal weather occurred this week across the High Plains states east of the Continental Divide. Temperatures from Kansas northward into the Dakotas ranged mostly from 6 to 12 degrees below normal. Precipitation amounts varied more widely; parts of southwest Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and southeast Wyoming saw heavier rains. This led to improvements in drought or dryness where precipitation deficits lessened. Other areas of central and eastern Nebraska, southeast and northeast Kansas, and western North Dakota were drier, leading to development or expansion of drought and abnormal dryness. Mostly dry weather also continued in western South Dakota where moderate and severe drought continued, and continued dry weather may lead to worsening conditions. Western Wyoming also saw expansions of drought conditions along the Idaho border amid continued dry short-term conditions…
West
Mostly warmer-than-normal weather occurred this week across the West, especially in Utah, Nevada, and California—where temperatures were locally 3-9 degrees warmer than normal. West of Utah and Arizona, mostly dry weather occurred, while heavier rains fell in parts of northeast New Mexico and portions of Utah. The locally heavy rains in northeast New Mexico led to local improvements where precipitation deficits lessened in the short- and long-term. Recent rainfall led to local improvements to ongoing short-term moderate drought along the Utah-Colorado border. Elsewhere, scattered degradations occurred in the northern half of the West region. Northeast Montana saw expansion of moderate and severe drought due to short-term precipitation deficits and deficits in streamflow and soil moisture. A few degradations occurred across southern Idaho due to short-term dryness and streamflow deficits. Similar conditions in southeast Oregon and portions of Washington led to degrading conditions…
South
Except for the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, the South saw primarily dry weather this week. Soil moisture and streamflow dropped in parts of western Tennessee amid growing precipitation deficits, leading to expansion of abnormal dryness and short-term moderate drought there. Similar conditions in Mississippi, portions of Louisiana, and Arkansas led to moderate drought and abnormal dryness expansion. Farther west in Oklahoma, a couple heavy bands of rain fell across central and eastern parts of the state during nighttime thunderstorm complexes. This led to widespread improvements in ongoing drought. A two-category improvement occurred from southern Oklahoma City through Norman, where rainfall amounts of 6 or more inches were common. Heavier rains in the western Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles led to localized improvements where precipitation deficits lessened. Much of Oklahoma and Texas along and just south of the Red River saw short-term dryness intensify, leading to large-scale degradation in drought and abnormal dryness. Temperature anomalies across the region varied north to south. The northern half the region was mostly near normal or cooler than normal (locally 3 or more degrees below normal), while the southern half of the region ranged from near normal up to 3 or more degrees above normal…
Looking Ahead
Through August 19, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center is forecasting mostly drier weather in the West, aside from some monsoonal moisture in Utah and Arizona and precipitation in northwest parts of Montana and Washington. Heavier rainfall amounts, locally exceeding an inch, are possible primarily east of the Missouri River and along and north of the Ohio River, covering parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
Looking ahead to the period from August 20-24, the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s forecast favors below-normal temperatures in the Great Lakes, parts of the Upper Midwest and Northeast. South and west of here, warmer-than-normal temperatures are favored, especially from Arizona and New Mexico through Texas and the Gulf Coast. A small area of below-normal temperatures is favored from northern California through the western halves of Washington and Oregon. Wetter-than-normal weather is slightly favored along the Atlantic Coast, the northwest Great Plains, and the central and northern Rocky Mountains, while higher confidence for wetter-than-normal weather exists from northwest California through northwest Oregon and most of Washington. Warmer-than-normal weather is favored in Hawaii, and above-normal precipitation is favored on the Big Island, while equal chances for above- or below-normal precipitation exist elsewhere in Hawaii. In Alaska, warmer-than-normal temperatures are favored in the southeast, while cooler-than-normal temperatures are more likely in central and western portions of the state. The forecast favors drier-than-normal weather in the southeast half of Alaska, while central and northwest Alaska are more likely to receive above-normal precipitation.
Topsoil Moisture % short/very short week ending August 11, 2024 — @NOAADrought
37% of the Lower 48 is short/very short, 2% more than last week. Topsoils dried out in Nevada and from the Gulf to the Midwest. Driest soil conditions remain in New Mexico, West Virginia, and the Pacific Northwest.
A plan to save #ColoradoRiver water could come with big costs, both financial and environmental — KUNC #COriver #aridification
Click the link to read the article on the KUNC website (Alex Hager):
August 14, 2024
This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.
The Colorado River’s largest water user agreed to leave some of its supplies in Lake Mead in exchange for a massive federal payout. But environmental advocates say the plan was rushed and could harm wildlife habitat and air quality.
The Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies water to farms in the Southern California desert, stands to receive more than $500 million from the Inflation Reduction Act. The cutbacks, spread out over the next three years, are part of a plan to prop up Lake Mead. Mead is the nation’s largest reservoir and holds water for farms and major cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
State and federal leaders are under pressure to cut back on water demand as climate change shrinks supplies. Imperial, which has a larger allocation of Colorado River water than any other farming district or city between Wyoming and Mexico, has ended up in the crosshairs as a result.
“IID has cleared enormous hurdles to make this deal happen,” JB Hamby, Imperial’s vice chairman, wrote in a press release. “There is no excuse for inaction anywhere along the river.”
In 2023, farmers in the Imperial Valley told KUNC that payments were the only way to get them to use less. That message has landed with policymakers too. The federal government set aside $4 Billion for Colorado River work, and a sizable portion of that has been directed specifically at programs that incentivize farmers to reduce their water use. Those programs have already spent big in the Imperial Valley and other faraway farm districts.
But as money flows to the Imperial Valley, environmental and health advocates want to make sure there’s enough set aside to stave off negative impacts of bringing less water to the area.
Changes to Imperial Valley water use are virtually inseparable from changes to the Salton Sea.
It’s a giant lake on the Valley’s north end, and it’s mostly filled with runoff from nearby farm fields. As the valley’s farmers use less water, the Salton Sea will continue to dry up, reducing habitat for the flocks of migratory birds that stop there and producing dust storms that increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory diseases among the valley’s residents.
Nataly Escobedo Garcia, water policy coordinator at the Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, co-signed a July letter asking the federal government to go further in protecting wildlife and air quality as it works on water cutbacks near the Salton Sea.
“We completely believe in conserving that water,” she said. “We want to make sure that we have a healthy system, because we also depend on the Colorado River water system. But given the amount of funding that’s available to do this conservation, we don’t see why some of that can’t go towards these direct impacts that communities are going to feel.”
Some critics of the conservation plan’s rollout said the process was rushed, and didn’t allow enough time for public comment on its impacts to the environment. The conservation agreement was inked about five hours after the federal government released its Environmental Assessment.
“You had ample time to do a full environmental impact report, which our community deserves,” Eric Reyes, executive director of local nonprofit Los Amigos de la Comunidad, said at the Imperial Irrigation District board meeting on Tuesday.
“My disappointment overflows,” he said. “The public needs to be informed, we need to be engaged, and this is not the way to do it, at the last second.”
August 14th marks the anniversary of The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978
Northern Water Board Increases #Colorado-Big Thompson Quota Allocation (70% to 80%) #drought #ColoradoRiver #SouthPlatteRiver
Click the link to read the release on the Northern Water website (Jeff Stahla):
August 14, 2025
In response to a flash drought that has developed throughout the northern Front Range, the Board of Directors of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has increased the quota allocation of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project by 10 percentage points.
In a unanimous vote, the Board on August 14, 2024, increased the quota from 70 percent to 80 percent, meaning an approximate 31,000 acre-feet of water will be made available to allottees of the Project.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a large area of eastern Boulder and Larimer counties have entered severe drought status in July, and an area of drier conditions in the Longmont-Boulder area has worsened into extreme drought conditions, putting at risk the ability of farmers to finish production of their crops for 2024.
Water storage levels in the Project are adequate to meet the additional quota declaration.
Northern Water’s Board typically sets an initial quota in November and a supplemental quota in April, but there have been occasions in which additional quota has been allocated, including in 2020 and 2022. In April, the Board set the quota at 70 percent, which allowed project allottees to access seven-tenths of an acre-foot for each allotment contract unit they own.
