Dry Southwest - Soggy Southeast
While much of Kansas enjoyed
near or above normal rainfall during April, such was not the
case in the far southwest. Morton County, for example, received
just 26 percent of normal. Seven counties have received less
than one-half of their normal precipitation since September 2007
and seven southwest counties have picked-up less than 60 percent
of normal during the past year. In sharp contrast, three extreme
southeast counties (Cherokee, Crawford and Labette) had more
than eight inches of rain in April.
The latest
Kansas Climate Summary and Drought Report -
April 2008 provides additional details. This Report
is updated
monthly (first Friday or thereabouts) throughout the year. Archived
reports from
2006 and 2007 are also available: 3/2008
, 2/8/2008,
1/8/2008,
12/7/2008,
11/7/2007,
10/7/2007,
9/5/2007, 8/7/2007,
7/6/2007,
6/6/2007 , 5/5/2007,
4/4/2007,
3/6/2007,
2/2/2007,
11/14/06, 10/10/06, 8/16/2006,
6/14/2006, 5/1/2006, 3/10/06, 1/25/06.
Drought Preparedness and Response
The Kansas
Water Office has the statutory responsibility to monitor
conditions and inform the Governor when drought conditions are
present in the state. The Director of the Kansas Water Office
serves as Chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team, an
interagency group charged with coordinating drought response
activities in Kansas. An
Operations Plan details Team membership and response
activities keyed to each of three county drought stages: Drought
Watch, Drought Warning and Drought Emergency.
The following publications provide
additional information regarding drought preparedness and
response in Kansas.
Drought
Related Links - Additional information regarding current drought
conditions, forecasts, available assistance, drought planning,
and more is available through these links.
