Throughout January 2023, portions of four of the six North Central Kansas counties continued to be assigned Severe Drought (D2) by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM). This marked the 12th consecutive month that D2 plagued parts of the local area. Although a lingering, longer-term drought situation remained firmly intact, January offered some encouraging precipitation trends with widespread above to well-above normal totals (see below for more Jan. precipitation details). However, despite this above normal precipitation, there was actually no drought category change whatsoever within the local area. More specifically, the entire month featured D2 encompassing all of Rooks County, along with roughly the western two-thirds of Osborne County, the southwestern half of Phillips County and a portion of far southern Smith County. Elsewhere within the six-county domain, Moderate Drought (D1) persisted over the majority of Smith and Jewell counties, along with roughly the northeast half of Phillips County, the eastern third of Osborne County and a small portion of northwestern Mitchell County. Finally, the overall best-off areas, assigned Abnormally Dry (D0), remained over most of Mitchell along with southeastern Jewell counties.
Turning to January 2023 precipitation details, although actual precipitation amounts were not nearly enough to put a significant dent in drought categories (due to the winter months being the overall-driest months of the year on average), January nonetheless featured the most widespread coverage of above normal monthly precipitation within North Central Kansas in nearly two years...since March 2021. In fact, not only did the ENTIRE area measure above normal precipitation, but slightly over half of it scored at least twice-normal amounts. More specifically, the majority of the six-county domain received 1.00-1.50 inches of precipitation, or 160-240 percent of normal. The overall-highest totals favored Phillips and Smith counties, while the overall-lowest amounts concentrated across Mitchell and southeastern Jewell counties. Many long-standing official NWS stations notched a Top-10 wettest January, including 2nd-wettest at Kirwin Dam, 3rd-wettest at Smith Center, 5th-wettest near Plainville and 8th-wettest in Natoma. Per over 20 NWS and CoCoRaHS observers, some of the highest January tallies featured: 1.75 at Kirwin Dam, 1.56 six miles east of Phillipsburg and 1.53 four miles west-northwest of Plainville. On the drier (but still above normal) side of the ledger, some of the lower totals included: 0.96 near Hunter, 0.99 in Beloit and 1.07 at Glen Elder Lake.

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

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

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

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