1. Current Status and Climatological Evolution of the 2010-2013 Drought Michael Hayes, Director National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln Xiaomao Lin, KS State Climatologist Kansas State University Photo: Xiaomao Lin, Tribune, KS, March 2013

2. Outline Temporal and spatial context U.S. Drought Monitor Current status Kansas State Climatologist Next talk: Doug Kluck Summer 2013 High Plains Drought Outlook and Assessment Forum July 24, 2013 Colby, Kansas Photo: Xiaomao Lin, Tribune, KS, March 2013

5. Advantages of percentiles: –Can be applied to most parameters –Can be used for any length of data record –Puts drought in historical perspective Percentiles and the U.S. Drought Monitor D4, Exceptional Drought: once per 50 to 100 years D3, Extreme Drought: once per 20 to 50 years D2, Severe Drought: once per 10 to 20 years D1, Moderate Drought: once per 5 to 10 years D0, Abnormally Dry: once per 3 to 5 years Courtesy: Brad Rippey, USDA

6. Continental U.S., Percent in Drought January 2000 to March 2013 Courtesy: Brad Rippey, USDA D0 D1 D2 D3 D4

7. High Plains Region, Percent in Drought January 2000 to March 2013 Plains Drought, 2001-2005 Plains Drought, 2006-2008 D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 Courtesy: Brad Rippey, USDA

12. 2011 Drought Impacts NCDC: total direct losses to crops, livestock, and timber = $12 billion NCDC: losses from wildfires in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas exceeds $1 billion Largest wildfires in history in both New Mexico (Las Conchas) and Arizona (Wallow) Texas: Bastrop County fire Labor Day Weekend destroyed 1,625 homes and caused $325 million in insured losses

14. Drought Impact Reporter http://droughtreporter.unl.edu

18. 2012 Drought Impacts Economic loss estimates $30 billion, NCDC Crop indemnities: $17 billion 2011 the previous record with $10.8 billion Fires Colorado

20. Courtesy: Brad Rippey, USDA

21. Courtesy: Marty Hoerling et al., NOAA, 2013

22. Drought Impact Reporter http://droughtreporter.unl.edu

23. Drought Impact Reporter http://droughtreporter.unl.edu

26. Courtesy: Brad Rippey, USDA

30. Courtesy: Kansas Water Office, Weekly Drought Update, July 19, 2013

31. Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

32. How Much Water Vapor in Kansas Air ( 2m ) Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

33. Water Anomaly in Air ( 2m ) in June 2012 and 2013 Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

34. How Much Water in Kansas Soil (0-10cm) Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

35. Water Anomaly in Soil ( 2m ) in June 2012 and 2013 Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

36. Southwest Kansas Available Water (Garden City) How much water demand for our irrigation? Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

37. Western and Central Kansas Drought Indices during Past 118 Years (1895 to 2012) Western and Central Kansas Drought Indices during Past 118 Years (1895 to 2012) Courtesy: Xiaomao Lin, Kansas State University

41. Summary A relatively wet period preceded the current dryness that the region is experiencing Southern Kansas and southeastern Colorado are in their 3 rd year of drought; the rest of Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado are in their 2 nd year of drought Improvements in 2013 in the eastern Corn Belt Little improvement west of the Missouri River Livestock sector continues to be hit hard

42. Photo: Xiaomao Lin, Tribune, KS, March 2013 Michael Hayes National Drought Mitigation Center mhayes2@unl.edu http://drought.unl.edu Xiaomao Lin Kansas State xlin@ksu.edu