According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, December marked the seventh consecutive month of severe (or worse) drought across this six-county portion of North Central Kansas, as the latter two-thirds of 2012 marked its place in history as one of the worst droughts since the 1950s. For the year as a whole, the vast majority of the area only measured between 55-75 percent of normal annual precipitation, with only a small portion of southern Jewell County finishing the year slightly above normal. One of the driest NWS cooperative observer sites during 2012 was Long Island in Phillips County, which only tallied 10.07 inches for the year...a notable 14.78 below normal.
Focusing solely on December, despite a welcome change of pace featuring above normal precipitation, all six counties remained under a federally-designated drought disaster. According to weekly issuances of the U.S. Drought Monitor, there was essentially no change whatsoever in drought classification during the month. Category D4 exceptional drought (the worst-possible classification) remained firmly in place across Phillips and Rooks counties along with the majority of Smith and Osborne counties. Farther east, a mix of category D2 severe and category D3 extreme drought persisted in Jewell and Mitchell Counties. Based on reports from around 20 NWS cooperative observers, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, most of the area realized above normal precipitation in December (per normals generally between 0.70-0.90). This much-needed precipitation was largely the result of two snow events, one that generally brought 2-5 of snow on the 19th, and another on the 31st that blanketed most areas with 4-7. A few of the highest December precipitation totals per NWS observers included 1.14 at Phillipsburg, 1.13 at Burr Oak and 1.11 at Smith Center. On the lower side of precipitation totals were sites such as Hunter (0.50), Cawker City (0.50) and Natoma (0.72). The USDA Kansas Crop Progress and Condition Report for December indicated that state-averaged winter wheat crop conditions declined during the month, and rated 31 percent poor to very poor and only 24 percent good to excellent. State-averaged range and pasture conditions as of the end of December were reportedly 84% poor to very poor. Hay and forage and stock water supplies checked in between 71-77% short to very short, values which had held fairly steady for the past four to five months.

Drought in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in SMITH, KANSAS
From 01-DEC-12 00:00:00 to 31-DEC-12 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor