Drought Expands

Updated on Thursday, September 21, 2017

Next Scheduled Update on Thursday, September 28, 2017

Daily Monitoring of Drought Impacts & Outlooks

Since August 1st, very little rain has fallen along and south of the Interstate 90 corridor.  Rainfall deficits during this time frame range from 3 to 6 inches.  Due to this, the moderate (D1) drought has expanded across southwest and west-central Wisconsin, northeast Iowa, and southeast Minnesota.  

U.S. Drought Monitor Summary:

In the September 19th release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, extreme (D3) drought was found in south-central and southeast Iowa.  

Severe (D2) drought was located in northwest Minnesota and a small portion of northeast Iowa.  

Moderate (D1) drought was found in southeast Minnesota, southwest and southeast Wisconsin, central Illinois, south-central Lower Michigan, and central and northwest Iowa.  

Abnormally dry (D0) conditions were found across southern Lower Michigan, much of Illinois Illinois, southwest and north-central Iowa, south-central Minnesota, and central Wisconsin.

Note: The data cutoff for Drought Monitor maps is Tuesday at 7 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

 

State Drought Statistics

Local Area Affected:

Moderate (D1) to severe (D2) drought across Allamakee County in northeast Iowa and Houston County in southeast Minnesota.

Moderate (D1) drought across Crawford County in southwest Wisconsin.

Abnormally dry (D0)) to severe (D2) drought across Winneshiek County in northeast Iowa.

Abnormally dry (D0) to moderate drought (D1) across all or portions of Clayton, Fayette, and Howard counties in northeast Iowa; Fillmore and Winona counties in southeast Minnesota; and Grant, La Crosse, Monroe, and Vernon counties in western Wisconsin.

Abnormally dry (D0) across all or parts of Chickasaw, Floyd, and Mitchell counties in northeast Iowa;  Mower and Olmsted counties in southeast Minnesota; and Adams,  Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, Juneau, Richland, and Trempealeau counties in western Wisconsin.

State/Local Government Actions:

No known actions are taking place at this time.

Climatological Summary:

Since August 1, the rainfall deficits have ranged from 3 to 6 inches along and south of the Interstate 90 corridor.  The following tables show the rain totals and deficits from August 1 through September 19.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a weekly collaborative effort between a number of federal agencies including NOAA/NWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Details and explanations of the Drought Monitor can found at the web site:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

The categories of drought are defined as follows:

Abnormally Dry (D0) - Going into drought: short-term dryness slowing planting, growth of crops or pastures; fire risk above average. Coming out of drought: some lingering water deficits; pastures or crops not fully recovered.

Moderate Drought (D1) - Some damage to crops, pastures; fire risk high; streams, reservoirs, or wells low, some water shortages developing or imminent, voluntary water use restrictions requested.

Severe Drought (D2) - Crop or pasture losses likely; fire risk very high; water shortages common; water restrictions imposed.

Extreme Drought (D3) - Major crop/pasture losses; extreme fire danger; widespread water shortages or restrictions.

Exceptional Drought (D4) - Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; exceptional fire risk; shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells, creating water emergencies.


Potential Evapotranspiration Rates:

• Iowa
• Minnesota & Wisconsin

Disaster & Drought Assistance:

• USDA
• County Drought Disaster List
• Disaster Assistance Programs FSA
• Emergency Farm Loans
• Emergency Haying & Grazing

Other Drought Web Sites:

• Minnesota DNR
• ReadyWisconsin (Part of the Wisconsin Emergency Management Team)

Drought ACIS:

This tool allows you the ability to explore data related to drought from the Regional Climate Centers (RCCs).  You can look at length or periods without rain, temperature data, and more.  Click on the logo below to gain access to this tool.

http://drought.rcc-acis.org/

Normal flows continue along rivers and streams in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and western Wisconsin.

Listed below are some current (September 19th) river and stream flows versus in cubic feet per second (cfs) compared to percentiles of historical daily stream flow for the day of the year.  These are for selected rivers and streams in our service area with long periods (over 30 years) of record as measured by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Hourly and forecast river stages out to 90 days can be found at:

• NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS)

Additional Current stream and river stages may be viewed at:

• USGS WaterWatch

An interactive table of sites which are at or near record flows can be found at:

• USGS WaterWatch 

Iowa:

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service It was mostly dry in Iowa with above normal temperatures for the week ending September 17, 2017.  Statewide there were 6.2 days suitable for fieldwork. With increased heat and little moisture, crops matured rapidly in the past week. Activities for the week included seeding cover crops, spreading
manure, harvesting seed corn, chopping corn silage, and hauling grain. 

• Topsoil moisture levels rated 21 percent very short, 30 percent short, 49 percent adequate and 0 percent surplus. 
• Subsoil moisture levels rated 20 percent very short, 34 percent short, 46 percent adequate and 0 percent surplus.

Pasture conditions worsened over the past week with 47 percent poor to very poor.

It was a warm week across Iowa with temperatures averaging from one degree above normal southeast to 6 to 8 degrees above normal over the north and west. Temperature extremes varied from a 39 degree low at Lowden in Cedar County on Monday (11th) morning to highs of 94 degrees at Des Moines and Perry on Friday (15th).

It was very dry through the workweek with widespread rain finally arriving over the weekend.  Nearly all of the week’s rain fell between Friday (15th) morning and Sunday (17th) morning.  The statewide average precipitation amount was 0.68 inches while normal for the week is 0.79 inches. 

Minnesota:

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service during the week ending September 17, 2017, warm conditions aided maturity of corn and soybeans and contributed to a rapid harvest pace of dry edible beans.  There were 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork. Some areas reported fall tillage delays due to dry conditions. Harvest continued for corn silage, sugarbeets, potatoes, and alfalfa hay.

• Topsoil moisture supplies rated 2 percent very short, 16 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 4 percent surplus. 
• Subsoil moisture supplies rated 4 percent very short, 15 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus.

Pasture condition declined to 54 percent good to excellent.

Wisconsin:

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service during the week ending September 17, 2017, there were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork for the week.  Dry conditions continued this week, with southern Wisconsin receiving very little precipitation, and only a few light showers in the north. Temperatures, however, were well above normal with daytime highs in the upper 80s.  This burst of heat pushed corn and soybeans toward maturity and allowed many farmers to make hay.  Reporters in the northern portions of the state commented that corn plant moistures were still too high to chop silage.  Silage harvest was going strong in the southern portions of the state.  Some reporters there noted that conditions have gotten unfavorably dry and rain is now needed. 

• Topsoil moisture supplies were rated 4 percent very short, 17 percent short, 77 percent adequate and 2 percent surplus.
• Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 2 percent very short, 12 percent short, 83 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus.

Pasture condition was 63 percent good to excellent, 9 percentage points less than last week.

Here are selected quotes from Farm Reporters and County Ag Agents:

In Clark County. it was a dry week with some growing degree days, unusual for September. Corn needs some heat to finish. Speaking with some farmers, corn silage harvest is still a couple weeks away. Beginning to see some corn dent, but well behind normal. Soybeans are changing quickly. Some fields showing color change and a day later the whole field has changed as the grain is maturing and drying down. Did see some corn silage harvested, but very limited as moistures are near 80 percent from reports I've received. Most of the oats have been harvested with below average yield and light test weight a common theme. 

In Monroe County, crops on sandy soils are really shutting down due to dry weather.

Soil moisture supply measures how much moisture is present in cropland top soil during the week. Soil moisture is reported as a percentage. The categories very short, short, adequate and surplus must add up to 100%.

Very Short - Soil moisture supplies are significantly less than what is required for normal plant development. Growth has been stopped, or nearly so, and plants are showing visible signs of moisture stress. Under these conditions, plants will quickly suffer irreparable damage.

Short - Soil dry.  Seed germination and/or normal crop growth and development would be curtailed.

Adequate - Soil moist.  Seed germination and/or crop growth and development would be normal or unhindered.

Surplus - Soil wet.  Fields may be muddy and will generally be unable to absorb additional moisture.  Young developing crops may be yellowing from excess moisture.

The map below lists the Agricultural Districts in southeast Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and northeast Iowa.

For additional information on agriculture impacts may be viewed from the:

• USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin

Description of Fire Danger Ratings

• Low fire danger
• Moderate fire danger
• High fire danger
• Very High Danger
• Extreme fire danger

For updated DNR Fire Conditions consult the following Web Sites:

• Minnesota DNR
• Wisconsin DNR

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is a drought index that is specifically related to fire potential. The KDBI is broken into four categories which indicate the susceptibility of ground fuels to fire danger. Below are the four categories and a brief description of each.

KBDI and Dead Fuel Moisture data can be found through the:

• Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS)

Burn Bans:

• Iowa

• 8 to 14 Day Outlook
• Experimental Week 3 & 4 Outlooks 
• 30 Day Outlook
• 90 Day Outlook

NCEP's CFSv2 (Coupled Forecast System Model Version 2):

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Seasonal

If you have any questions or comments about this drought information please contact the NWS La Crosse at:

E-mail: nws.lacrosse@noaa.gov
Telephone: 608-784-8275

Other Contacts:

Local Agricultural Impacts:

• Cooperative Extension Agency
• Farm Service Agency

State climate impacts:

• American Association of State Climatologists (AASC)