Contact: Natalie Umphlett (numphlett2@unl.edu) Missouri River Basin Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook| September 2013 

 www.drought.gov/drought/content/resources/reports

Quarterly Climate Impacts 

and Outlook

Missouri River Basin 

September 2013 

National - Significant Events for June 2013 - August 2013

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies Drought in the Basin

Regional - Climate Overview for June 2013 - August 2013

Percent of Normal Precipitation (%)

June 1 - August 31, 2013

Departure from Normal Temperature (°F)

June 1 - August 31, 2013

U.S. Drought Monitor

9/17/2013

June

July

Highlights for the Basin

Significant statewide rankings include a dry 

June for Colorado and Wyoming, with these 

states ranking as the 10th and 7th driest, 

respectively. Meanwhile in August, Wyoming 

had its 3rd warmest, Kansas had its 8th 

wettest, and both Iowa and Minnesota had 

their 7th driest.

Monsoonal moisture brought much needed 

precipitation to Colorado which helped 

alleviate some long and short term drought 

conditions, while also decreasing fire danger. 

However, the rains also caused destructive 

flash flooding in and around recent burn scars.

There were extremes in precipitation on 

the local level with many stations ranking in 

either the top 10 wettest or driest summers 

on record. For instance, Wichita, KS had its 3rd 

wettest summer on record, while Lincoln, NE 

had its 6th driest.

While this summer brought a record low 

number of tornadoes to the region, the Rapid 

City, SD National Weather Service Office 

issued its second highest number of severe 

thunderstorm warnings (442). 

Temperatures played an important role 

in drought this summer as many of the 

impacts of dryness were staved off by cool 

conditions. However, in mid-August, once 

the heat built in, drought conditions quickly 

emerged and/or deteriorated in the eastern 

parts of the Dakotas and Nebraska. Drought 

also re-emerged in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, 

and northern Missouri. Improvements were 

made in areas receiving ample precipitation 

including most of Kansas, western South 

Dakota, and central and eastern Colorado. 

Precipitation was hit or miss this summer 

across the Missouri River Basin states. 

Some areas received up to 200% of normal 

precipitation including north-central Montana, 

central Kansas, and southern Missouri. 

Meanwhile, others received less than 25% of 

normal precipitation. The dry areas included 

central Wyoming, northern Missouri, and eastcentral North Dakota. Flooding was reported in 

many of the wet areas while drought persisted 

or redeveloped in the dry areas. 

Summer temperatures were generally slightly 

warmer than normal in the western half of the 

region (Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado) 

and slightly lower than normal in the eastern 

half (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, 

Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri). The 

largest temperature departures occurred in 

Wyoming, western Montana, and pockets of 

Colorado where average temperatures were 

up 4.0°F above normal and areas of southern 

Missouri where average temperatures were up 

to 4.0°F below normal.

The summer contiguous U.S. temperature of 72.6°F was 1.2°F above the 20th century average and the 15th 

warmest summer on record for the nation. The summer precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 9.53 

inches, 1.28 inches above average. This marked the 8th wettest on record and the wettest since 2004. 
Regional - Impacts for June 2013 - August 2013

Contact: Natalie Umphlett (numphlett2@unl.edu) Missouri River Basin Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook| September 2013 

 www.drought.gov/drought/content/resources/reports

Regional - Outlook for Fall 2013 MO River Basin Partners

High Plains Regional Climate Center

www.hprcc.unl.edu

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

www.noaa.gov

National Weather Service - Central Region

www.crh.noaa.gov/crh

National Climatic Data Center

www.ncdc.noaa.gov

Missouri River Basin Forecast Center

www.crh.noaa.gov/mbrfc

Climate Prediction Center

www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

National Drought Mitigation Center

drought.unl.edu

State Climatologists

www.stateclimate.org

South Dakota State University Extension

http://igrow.org

National Integrated Drought Information

System (NIDIS)

www.drought.gov

US Army Corps of Engineers - Missouri River Basin 

Water Management Division

www.usace.army.mil

USGS South Dakota Water Science Center

http://sd.water.usgs.gov

Western Governors’ Association

westgov.org

:#regionalclimateoutlooks

3-Month Precipitation and 

Temperature Outlooks 

U.S. Seasonal Drought 

Outlook 

ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) neutral 

conditions were present at the end of 

the summer and are forecast to continue 

through Fall 2013. Models, combined with 

past weather trends, indicate enhanced 

chances of above normal precipitation for 

much of Montana and northern Wyoming. 

Meanwhile, areas with an increased chance for 

above normal temperatures include western 

Montana, western Wyoming, and much of 

Colorado. Fall conditions can have quite an 

impact on agriculture in this Region. With 

cooler, wetter conditions, crop drydown and 

harvest activities could be slowed. However, 

with warmer, drier conditions, harvesting 

activities should proceed as usual.

The fall outlook could be quite important for 

crops as cooler temperatures slowed crop 

development this summer - development 

which was already behind in many places 

due to either a late snowpack or wet field 

conditions. The latest drought outlook 

indicates that drought conditions should 

persist across the Missouri River Basin states 

through at least the end of December. Only 

areas of western Montana have a chance at 

improvements. If drought conditions do not 

improve over the fall, they will likely continue 

into next year as winter-time precipitation is 

typically low. 

Precipitation Extremes - Flooding and Drought

Precipitation disparities were common throughout the Missouri River Basin states 

this summer. Missouri was a prime example with the northern half receiving less 

than 50% of normal precipitation and the southern half up to 200% of normal. 

While crop stress emerged in northern areas of the state due to a lack of adequate 

precipitation, just to the south, historic flooding occurred across the Ozarks with 

some areas receiving up to 10 inches in just a 24-hour timeframe. The flooding 

caused roadways to close, water rescues, and even 3 deaths.

Agriculture

A late planting combined with unseasonably cool temperatures led to slow crop 

development across the Missouri River Basin states. This led to some concern 

about whether crops would reach maturity before the first fall freeze. Toward the 

end of August, warmer than normal temperatures prevailed which aided crop 

development where moisture was available but stressed crops in dry areas.

Wildfires

Colorado had its most destructive fire on record, in terms of structures burned, 

when the Black Forest Fire burned over 500 homes near Colorado Springs. Just 

last year, the Waldo Canyon Fire had been deemed the most destructive with 346 

homes destroyed.

Water Resources

According to a news release from The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation 

District, a combination of drought conditions, stream-flow depletions, and low 

inflows into Lake McConaughy (a reservoir on the North Platte River) have led to 

reduced storage at the reservoir. This year, 10 inches per acre were granted to 

irrigators while next year only 9 inches per irrigator will be available. Irrigators 

normally get up to 18 inches per acre.

Valid for October - December 2013 Valid for 9/19/2013 - 12/31/2013

EC: Equal chances of above, near or below normal

A: Above normal, B: Below normal

Precipitation Temperature

Top: Drought-damaged wheat field in Lamar, CO in early June - 

courtesy The Denver Post

Middle: Flooding at Roaring River State Park, MO in early Augustcourtesy National Weather Service Office, Springfield, MO

Bottom: Cheney Reservoir in KS (left: April, right: August) - courtesy 

Howard Miller, NRCS