1. ND Weekly Drought Update
Adnan Akyuz, Ph.D.
NDSU, AES
State Climatologist
Updated 5/10/2018

2. Divisional Precipitation Anomalies and Rankings
March 2018
April 2018
-0.85”
16th
-1.1”
2nd
-1.07”
7th
-0.69”
29th
-1.06”
8th
-1.34”
6th
-0.2”
58th
-0.64”
35th
-1.18”
14th
Negative numbers indicate drier than long-term ( ) average.
Lower rankings indicate historically drier conditions on record (124 years total).

3. Divisional Temperature Anomalies and Rankings
March 2018
April 2018
-8.7F
5th
-8.5F
5th
-8.9F
7th
-7.7F
7th
-9.1F
3rd
-9.4F
3rd
--6.5F
7th
-8.3F
3rd
-9.9F
2nd
Negative numbers indicate cooler than long-term ( ) average.
Lower rankings indicate historically cooler conditions on record (124 years total).

4. 30-Day Precipitation
Total Accumulation
% of Normal

5. Long Term Precipitation % of Normal
60 Days
90 Days

6. Weekly Drought Impact Collection Based on the NDSU Weekly Survey of Extension Offices
Climate Division
Drought Impact by counties
1: North-West
Ward County: Moderately Dry
Burke County: Moderately Dry. 0.3 to .4 inches of rain across the county this week. Grass is greening up but there is no soil moisture under sod 6 to 8 inches soil moisture in most cropland. There was some spring runoff but it was very limited and most waterholes and dugouts are not full.
Divide County: Severely Dry. Lack of rainfall during critical growing period. Delayed turnout of livestock.
2: North-Central
McHenry County: Moderately Dry. Burn Ban in affect
3: North-East
Cavalier County: Near Normal
4: West
Oliver County: Moderately Dry. Received about .10 inch of rain this week. It perked up the grasses, but the stronger winds every day have kept the topsoil pretty dry.
Dunn County: Near Normal. Grasses are green and growing.
5: Central
Stutsman County: Mildly Dry. Growth is slow in Stutsman County. Some of this I think is because of the slow spring and also because some areas were dry going into the fall. I think we will have a better idea of the impact in the coming weeks, especially if we don't get some rain. Some areas of the county did get rain on Monday night.
Eddy County: Mildly Dry . Drier than normal for this time of year. Pastures have not greened up yet. Producers are saying that there is moisture to get the crop started but it is usually wetter at this time of year than it is right now. Very little precipitation has been received since last fall and we were dry last year.
Kidder County: Mildly Dry
6: East-Central
Griggs Count: Mildly Dry. Between mildly dry and near normal across county.
Barnes County: Moderately Wet
7: South-West
Slope County: Mildly Dry
Bowman County: Moderately Dry
Hettinger County: Mildly Dry
Adams County: Moderately Dry
Billings/Stark Counties: Moderately Dry. Grass growth is slow, producers trying to hold off on turning out to pastures.
8: South-Central
Emmons County: Severely Dry. The warm weather is making everyone (people, plants and livestock) think spring in finally here. Winter cereals are emerged and growing. Farmers are in the fields planting wheat, other small grains and corn. The grass in town is starting to green up. Since we were so short on moisture last fall, the little bit of rain we have received and the snow will help crops emerge but then they will stall out because the moisture is gone. We need more rain. Pastures need the moisture to get the grasses growing and replenish the water supply to maintain grass all summer. We are extremely dry and are in need of moisture. Pastures have slowly started growing. They need lots of moisture to maintain grass all grazing season. Lots of producers are running low of feed and are planning to stick their cattle out on pasture soon. The problem is that there is no grass to feed their cattle while out on pasture. They need to recover from last year before they can be grazed this year.
9: South-East
Ransom County: Near Normal
Logan County: Mildly Dry

7. (% Change from previous week)
Cumulative % area
(% Change from previous week)
None
11%
(-9%) D2 3%
(0%) D1
39%
(0%) DO
89%
(+13%)

8. State Coverage and Intensity

9. Drought Change
One-week Change
4-week Change

10. Drought Severity and Coverage Index (Statewide)
329
(Aug 8, 2006)
295
(Aug 8, 2017)
132
(+14)
Drought Severity and Coverage Index = ADO + 2AD1 + 3AD2 + 4AD3 + 5AD4 (Akyuz, 2007)
Where: A is a % of the state covered under the corresponding D-severity

11. Accumulated Drought Severity and Coverage Index (Statewide)
8927
(+132)
9,530
10,642
9653
19,319
2116
1714
*Numbers indicate the area under the DSCI Index Curve
*Akyuz (2017)

12. Soil Moisture and Bare Soil Temperature
Soil Moisture Departure from Normal
Bare Soil Temperature at 4” Depth
Daily Average (May 9, 2018)
(40mm = 1.6”)

13. 7-day GFS Forecast* Thu 1am, May 10 through Thu 1am, May 17
*College of DuPage
Next Generation Weather Lab (Displayed with permission)

14. 14-day GFS Forecast* Thu 1am, May 10 through Thu 1am, May 24
*College of DuPage
Next Generation Weather Lab (Displayed with permission)

15. Medium Range Forecast
Week 3-4 Precipitation
Week 3-4 Temperature

16. 3-Mounth Outlook: June-August
Precipitation
Temperature