National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Cheyenne, WY
Versions: 1 2 3 4
000
AXUS75 KCYS 070316
DGTCYS
NEC007-013-033-045-105-123-157-165-WYC001-007-009-015-021-027-031-
150000-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
915 PM MDT Thu May 6 2021

...Periodic precipitation the past three weeks provided slight
improvement to drought conditions across portions of southeast
Wyoming...

.SYNOPSIS...

Precipitation the first two weeks of April was mainly light. A more
active weather pattern prevailed the last two weeks as a series of
low pressure systems and cold fronts produced moderate to locally
heavy precipitation over portions of southeast Wyoming. April
temperatures averaged two to four degrees below normal.

The May 4 U.S. Drought Monitor showed abnormally dry (D0) conditions
over far western portions of the Nebraska Panhandle into Laramie
County, much of Platte, Goshen and Albany counties, and far eastern
Carbon County.

Moderate drought (D1) surrounded the D0 areas, and extended into
east-central Wyoming and the remainder of the Nebraska Panhandle.

Severe drought (D2) extended from central and northeast Carbon
County into southwest Converse County.

Extreme drought (D3) covered southern and northwest Carbon County.

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

.FIRE DANGER IMPACTS...

Near to slightly below normal precipitation and below normal
temperatures produced low to moderate fire danger.

.AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS...

Extreme and severe drought impacted 6 and 39 percent of Wyoming,
respectively. Stock water supplies were rated 34 percent short to
very short and 66 percent adequate. Topsoil moisture was rated 52
percent short to very short compared to 18 percent last year.
Subsoil moisture was rated 63 percent short to very short compared
to 19 percent last year. Pasture and range conditions were rated 48
percent poor to very poor compared to 6 percent last year.

Nebraska topsoil was rated 30 percent short to very short. Subsoil
moisture was rated 37 percent short to very short. Corn planted was
42 percent, compared to 55 percent last year. Winter wheat was rated
18 percent poor to very poor and 40 percent fair. Pasture and range
conditions were 22 percent poor to very poor and 37 percent fair.

.HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS...

Snow water equivalents for the Upper and Lower North Platte, Laramie,
South Platte, and Little Snake River basins fluctuated between 75 and
120 percent of normal the past 30 days.

Below to well below normal streamflows were observed along the Upper
North Platte River, Rock and Lodgepole Creeks, and Little Snake River.

Near normal streamflows were observed along the Medicine Bow, Encampment,
Cheyenne, and Lower North Platte River.

May 5 Southeast Wyoming and Nebraska Panhandle Reservoir Storages...

RESERVOIR PERCENT FULL

Alcova 98
Glendo 93
Guernsey 64
Kortes 99
Pathfinder 66
Seminoe 52
Gray Reef 97
Box Butte                   74
Lake Alice 43
Little Lake Alice           30
Minatare 50
Winters Creek               33

.CLIMATE SUMMARY:

Below are the cumulative precipitation and percent of averages from
SNOTELS for Water Year Oct 2020-Sep 2021, and Selected Cities in
Southeast Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle since January 1.

Note...Basin-wide percent of averages are based on 1981-2010 normals.
Selected Cities percent of averages are based on 1981-2010 normals.

Basin Precipitation % of Average Location
(inches)Oct 2020-Sep 2021

North Platte
Divide Peak20.3            82
Laprele Creek 14.9      96
Medicine Bow33.9                MM
North French Creek     30.3            96
Old Battle 32.5            81
Sage Creek Basin 12.3    74
Sand Lake 30.0            101
South Brush Creek 11.2       61
Webber Springs 24.6         81
Whiskey Park 28.5           89
Windy Peak 14.8       110

Laramie/Little Laramie
Crow Creek13.7           99
Brooklyn Lake29.0                  115
Cinnabar Park24.7           89

Little Snake
Sandstone RS14.7            69
Little Snake River30.3               90

Selected Cities
Cheyenne6.83   168
Douglas2.1666
Laramie2.3999
Rawlins2.94    95
Torrington2.60     80
Alliance2.66    81
Chadron2.3664
Scottsbluff5.22   121
Sidney 2.94           94

.PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

The majority of the long-range models predict a transition from La
Nina to ENSO-neutral later this spring, with an 80 percent chance of
ENSO-neutral conditions this summer.

The May outlook issued by the Climate Prediction Center predicts a
30 to 40 percent chance of above normal temperatures and equal
chances of above, normal or below normal normal precipitation. The
May through July outlook predicts a 55 to 60 percent chance of above
normal temperatures and a 40 percent chance of below normal
precipitation.

The seasonal drought outlook for May through July indicates drought
redevelopment for areas that experienced improvements in April, and
drought persistence elsewhere.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

This product will be updated June 6 or sooner if drought conditions
change significantly.

.RELATED WEB SITES...

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

To report effects of the drought in your area...please go to the Drought
Impact Reporter at...

http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/map and click on Submit a Report

Information for the media may be found at...

http://drought.unl.edu/newsoutreach/informationformedia.aspx

USGS Wyoming Drought Watch...
http://wy.water.usgs.gov/projects/drought/

U.S. Drought Monitor...https://www.drought.gov

NOAA Drought Page...https://www.drought.noaa.gov

Climate Prediction Center /CPC/...https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

Additional River and Reservoir Information...

NWS...https://water.weather.gov OWP...https://water.noaa.gov

NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service /AHPS/...
https://www.water.gov/ahps2/index.php?WFO=cys

NRCS Wyoming...http://www.wy.nrcs.usda.gov

USGS...https://water.usgs.gov/

USBR...https://www.usbr.gov/

Water Resource Data System (WRDS)...http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu

Acknowledgments...

The Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving the National
Weather Service (NWS) and National Center for Environment Prediction
...USDA...state and regional center climatologists and the National
Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this statement was gathered
from NWS and FAA observation sites...State Cooperative Extension
Services...USACE and USGS.

Questions or comments...

If you have any questions or comments regarding this drought product...
please contact...

Mike Jamski
Climate/Hydrology Program Manager
National Weather Service
1301 Airport Parkway
Cheyenne, WY 82001
Telephone...307-772-2468
............800-269-6220
Email...mike.jamski@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
