Drought — Jewell, Kansas

2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Jewell, Kansas

Wider weather episode

During August 2023, the majority of this six-county North Central Kansas area spent the entire month assigned at least Severe Drought (D2) by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), with all but a tiny fraction of the domain mired in at least Moderate Drought (D1) through the month as a long-term drought situation carried on. August marked the 19th-consecutive month with at-least-D2 plaguing portions of the local area, and the fifth-straight month with at least limited coverage of Extreme Drought (D3). For North Central Kansas as a whole, August featured some positive trends, with the majority of places featuring at least modestly above normal rainfall in the wake of a primarily drier-than-normal July (see below for more specific precipitation details). Focusing on county-level USDM drought category specifics during August, roughly two-thirds of North Central Kansas remained stable/unchanged. However, around one-third of the area (including much of Phillips/Smith counties) realized one-category improvement. Diving deeper into the details, the month opened with the drought situation standing as follows: 1) D3 was present over much of Rooks, Osborne and western Mitchell counties, along with small parts of Phillips, Smith and Jewell...2) D2 prevailed across the majority of the area...3) Limited zones of D1 remained over northwestern Phillips and far southeastern Mitchell counties...4) A small part of northwestern Phillips County boasted best-off D0. Going forward into August, all categorical changes occurred during the first half of the month (on the August 8th/15th USDM issuances). This included one-category improvement from D2 to D1 across sizable parts of Phillips/Smith counties, and also more limited areal improvement from D2 to D1 within mainly southern Osborne and extreme southwestern Rooks counties. As a result of these changes, at month's end the USDM followed this script: 1) Worst-off D3 lingered within roughly one-fourth of North Central Kansas, including most of Rooks County along with smaller portions of Osborne, Mitchell, Smith and Jewell counties...2) A sizable swath of D2 (encompassing roughly 60 percent of the area) included large parts of especially Jewell and Osborne counties...3) D1 prevailed across most of Phillips/Smith counties along with far southeastern Mitchell...4) a small sliver of northwestern Phillips County hung onto best-off D0.

Turning to August 2023 rainfall details, near-to-slightly-above normal was the prevailing theme. The majority of North Central Kansas registered between 3.00-6.50 inches...generally 85-185 percent of normal. Roughly 80% of the area checked in at least slightly above normal, and a few choice pockets within primarily parts of Phillips, Smith and Osborne counties exceeded twice normal (meaning at least 7.00). Meanwhile, the overall-lowest totals concentrated within parts of western Rooks County. Per around 25 ground-truth gauges (NWS/CoCoRaHS observers and KS Mesonet stations), some of the very-highest August tallies featured: 8.61 in Agra, 8.31 at Lebanon, 7.38 in Smith Center and 6.69 at Phillipsburg. On the more unfortunate (but limited in scope) side of the measuring stick, a few of the driest August amounts included: 1.74 ten miles west-northwest of Stockton, 2.46 six miles west-southwest of Beloit, 2.82 near Damar and 3.01 at Webster Dam.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1117940. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.