According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, May marked the twelfth consecutive month of moderate (or worse) drought across nearly this entire six-county portion of North Central Kansas, continuing one of the most notable droughts since the 1950s. However, areas mainly east of the Highway 281 corridor realized some limited improvement thanks to decent monthly rainfall. More specifically, eastern portions of Smith and Osborne counties improved to D2 Severe Drought over the course of the month, while southeastern Jewell County improved to D1 Moderate Drought. In Mitchell County, most of the county was in D1 Moderate Drought at month's end. However, a small sliver of eastern Mitchell County managed to shake free of official drought conditions, although was still assigned D0 Abnormally Dry. This marked the first time since June 2012 that any portion of the area featured something better than D1 drought. Farther west, conditions stayed worse, as the majority of Phillips and Rooks counties remained in D3 Extreme Drought, with the far western fringes of those counties still brushed with D4 Exceptional Drought (the worst-possible category). Based on reports from around 20 NWS cooperative observers, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 60 percent of the six-county area observed below normal May precipitation (based on normals generally between 3.75-4.25 inches). The driest areas were largely concentrated across Phillips, northwest Smith, western Rooks, western Jewell and southeast Osborne counties. In contrast, above normal rainfall concentrated within Mitchell, eastern Jewell and western Osborne counties. However, even within the below normal areas most places still measured at least 1.50 for the month. Per NWS cooperative observers, several of the highest-known May precipitation totals included 4.52 at Jewell, 4.39 at Mankato and 4.27 four miles west-northwest of Plainville. On the drier side of things, some of the lowest monthly totals were 1.45 near Long Island, 1.51 at Logan and 1.59 at Phillipsburg. In between these wettest and driest extremes, the majority of the area reported totals between 2.00 and 3.50.  Remarkably, for some areas a small fraction of May precipitation consisted of snow, as an unusually cold start to the month brought very light accumulations up to around 1 primarily on the 1st.
Focusing on the longer-range picture of year-to-date precipitation amounts (January-May), most of the six-county area received between 60 and 100 percent of normal, with Phillips County the overall-driest. In parts of the area, a near normal trend certainly was not enough to end drought issues, although the severity had eased somewhat since fall 2012. According to the USDA Kansas Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending June 9th, topsoil moisture across the north central district had recently degraded a bit, rating 31% short to very short and 65% adequate (versus 15% and 82%, respectively, in early May). Subsoil moisture supplies in the area exhibited a very slight improvement during that same time, but were still 59% short to very short. The state-averaged wheat crop rated 47% poor to very poor and only 28% good to excellent. However, the young corn and soybean crop rated 60% and 64% good to excellent, respectively. Range and pasture conditions across Kansas rated 45% poor to very poor, a 17% improvement since early May. Hay and forage supplies had also improved slightly, with the poor to very poor ratings decreasing from 71% to 59%. This slight improvement was also noted in stock water supplies, checking in at 35% short to very short, versus 48% in early May.

Drought in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought in SMITH, KANSAS
From 01-MAY-13 00:00:00 to 31-MAY-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor