Drought conditions continue

In spite of last week’s heavy snow, drought conditions across the High Plains and Wyoming, didn’t get a break. In fact, according to the United States Drought Monitor, many areas actually got worse.

The only places to actually benefit from the precipitation were southwestern North Dakota and parts of the interior southeast of Colorado otherwise it had little, if any effect.

That is mostly due to the hot and dry conditions that have gone on for weeks ahead of the storm.

When looking at drought maps of the area, a large area is in extreme drought (D3) that includes western Colorado and the central tier of Wyoming. Smaller D3 areas are also found in north-central Wyoming and part of the Colorado Plains.

Unfortunately, the 10-day outlook for temperatures still shows Hot Springs County with temperatures well above normal and precipitation below normal.

Some relief is around the corner however as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared last week that a La Nina pattern has become established and will have a bearing on our upcoming winter.

In a La Nina pattern, the odds of above average snowfall for our area is expected to be higher, which will help with the drought conditions come spring.

They do expect somewhat of a slow start to the storms, figuring they will start arriving in December along with unusually cold temperatures.