Connecting Ag to Climate: Recent and Current Conditions
By: Windy Kelly
Wyoming experienced its third warmest and 42nd driest December out of 130 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information database, retrieved on Jan. 22.
Scaling to the county level, the minimum December temperatures of Wyoming’s counties ranked from the first to the 23rd warmest, and the maximum temperatures ranked from the warmest to the eighth warmest out of 130 years. See adjacent tables.
Precipitation rankings of select counties for the month of December are also included in the adjacent tables.
The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) map for Wyoming, released Jan. 16, classifies nearly 13.25 percent of Wyoming as being abnormally dry (D0), and it shows over 86.75 percent of the state in moderate (D1) to extreme drought (D3).
View the current USDM map at bit.ly/usdm-wy. Consider submitting a Condition Monitoring Observer Report at bit.ly/condtionreports.
Eight- to 14-day and one-month forecasts
NOAA’s eight- to 14-day forecast for Jan. 29 through Feb. 4, issued on Jan. 21, shows near normal temperatures for all of Wyoming.
For the same timeframe, there is a 33 to 40 percent probability for below normal precipitation for the southern half of the state and for near normal precipitation for nearly the rest of the state. The exception is a sliver along the Montana border where there is a 33 to 40 percent probability for above normal precipitation.
The one-month forecast for February, issued on Jan. 16, indicates an equal chance for below, near or above normal temperatures for much of Wyoming.
However, there is a 33 to 40 percent probability for above normal temperatures in the greater southwestern corner of the state and a 33 to 40 percent probability in the very northeastern corner for below normal temperatures.
For the same timeframe, there is a 33 to 40 percent probability for above normal precipitation in the northwest corner of Wyoming and an equal chance for below, near or above normal precipitation throughout the rest of the state.
For additional information and NOAA forecasts, visit cpc.ncep.noaa.gov.
Windy K. Kelley is the regional Extension program coordinator and state specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Northern Plains Climate Hub, the University of Wyoming Extension and WAFERx. She can be reached at wkelley1@uwyo.edu or 307-367-4380.
