Text Products for DGT Issued by BIS

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Bismarck, ND
Versions: 1
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DGTBIS
NDC001-007-009-011-013-015-021-023-025-029-031-033-037-041-043-
045-047-049-051-053-055-057-059-061-065-069-075-079-083-085-087-
089-093-101-103-105-291845-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
145 PM CDT Thu Aug 26 2021 /1245 PM MDT Thu Aug 26 2021/

...EXCEPTIONAL TO MODERATE DROUGHT PERSISTS IN WESTERN AND
CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

SYNOPSIS...
While some areas of the state have experienced near normal to even
slightly above normal rains over the past several weeks,
abnormally high temperatures have significantly minimized the
benefits of that rain. Nonetheless, over the past couple of weeks the
drought has at least not gotten much worse for the majority of
the area, and in some places there have been actual improvements.
Some short-term optimism for continued improvement can be gleaned
from the climate outlooks, but long-term outlooks still suggest a
continuation of drought conditions will persist through fall and
into winter.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
Small grains and row crops experienced spotty germination early
on, and have since been stressed due to the heat and low
availability of moisture. Hay and native forage across North
Dakota are considerably lacking in large areas with reports of
25-50% of normal pasture and native grass production. Early
planted small grains have in some areas been of such poor quality
that they were cut for hay, row crops such as corn have also now
been extensively harvested as forage since they were failing to
meet developmental milestones. Streamflow remains very low to at
the lower end of normal as some heavier rains have produced
nominal runoff. However, water storage reservoirs, wetlands,
dugouts, and stock dams remain at much lower than normal levels
with water quality concerns for those that do still have water in
them. The warmer than normal weather warmed shallow lakes and
wetlands rapidly during the summer which encouraged Harmful Algal
Blooms earlier than normal. Wildfires have been spotty, but of
greater concern than normal this summer.

STATE AND LOCAL ACTIONS... The Governor of North Dakota has
declared a statewide drought disaster and activated the State`s
Drought Task Force to regularly meet and explore/implement ways
to mitigate impacts. The State Drought Task Force is led by the
North Dakota Department of Emergency Services and includes
numerous state and federal partners.

SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS...
Areas with heavy rainfall over the past few weeks have seen soil
moisture slightly improve, but are still well below normal across
large parts of North Dakota.

GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS... No significant impacts to groundwater
have yet been reported, but groundwater levels are believed to be
lower than that of the last several years.

RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS.
Due to recent rains, some rivers and streams have recovered and
are now in the lower range of normal for this time of year.
However, water storage features such as wetlands, stock dams, and
reservoirs all tend to be well below normal for this time of
year.

AGRICULTURE IMPACTS...
Hay shortages along with poor pasture conditions are leading to
herd reductions across many counties in North Dakota. Failed cash
crops, such as wheat and corn have often been cut for forage. CRP
acres have also been targeted for cutting where allowed. Small
grains planted in April and early May that have been harvested are
generally producing yields in the 40-60% of normal range, where
poorer crops have been zeroed out by crop insurance and targeted
for haying.

FIRE DANGER HAZARDS... Since the growing season is coming to an
end, crops and native grasses are curing with each passing day.
This suggests the fuels will be receptive to ignition on warm, dry
days. Hot, dry, and windy days may be problematic as the fuels
will dry quickly under those conditions.

CLIMATE SUMMARY... While several parts of the state have
experienced wetter than normal conditions over the past few weeks,
the current drought still ranks right up there with the much
remembered drought of 1988 with regard to impacts; and
climatologically it fits in well with the string of drought years
of the 1930s and early 1940s. What it does not yet have is the
duration of the 1930s drought.

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
All of the short-term CPC outlooks, 6-10, 8-14, and 3-4 week
experimental favor a mixed bag of temperatures even as they are
consistent with an above normal outcome for precipitation. Looking
longer term, both the one-month and three-month outlooks continue to
favor above normal temperatures and below normal to near normal
precipitation. All of this suggests near term improvement in the
long-term precipitation deficits, but an overall continuation of the
existing drought although minor improvements are also likely.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
Some streams have recovered to the lower end of normal, but their
grasp on this slightly improved flow is tenuous at best. Dry,
cracked soils are preventing runoff under all but the heaviest of
thunderstorms. So while streams have improved slightly, water
supply features such as wetlands, reservoirs, and dugouts are
still much lower than normal. These impoundments have also
suffered water quality degradation due to evaporative
concentration of salts and sulfates; and harmful algal blooms. The
expectations for more regular rainfall over the coming few weeks
will be appreciated, but impacts to agriculture are generally
locked in for the growing season and little actual improvements
are expected on that front. Soil moisture values though may
increase as we go into fall and evapotranspiration rates continue
to fall. This would be a great improvement for the prospects of a
more normal soil moisture content going into next spring. However,
this in no way suggests the drought will end anytime soon and one
should expect drought conditions to persist through the fall and
into winter even if, or as, drought designations may improve.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
This product will be updated on near the end of September, or
sooner if necessary in response to significant changes in
conditions.

&&

Related web sites...
additional information on current drought conditions may be found
at the following web addresses /use lower case letters/...

U.S. Drought Monitor...http://www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu
National Integrated Drought Information System...
http://www.drought.gov
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
Midwestern Regional Climate Center...
http://mcc.sws.uiuc.edu/index.jsp
High Plains Regional Climate Center...http://hprcc.unl.edu
NWS River Information...http://www.weather.gov/ahps
USGS River Information...http://water.usgs.gov
US Army Corps of Engineer...http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil

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...the USDA...USACE and USGS.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
If you have any questions or comments about this Drought
Information Statement...please contact...

National Weather Service
2301 University Drive Bldg 27
Bismarck, ND 58504
Phone...701-250-4224
bis.webmaster@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
