ABRFC Drought Briefing (10/29/2009)

...............No official drought areas across ABRFC.....................
...............Very wet across the East...............................................

Periodic cold frontal passages continue to bring heavy rainfall and below-normal temperatures across much of the ABRFC. There are currently no drought areas designated by the US Drought Monitor across the ABRFC basin.

Figure 1 shows the past 30 days of precipitation across the ABRFC area. Significant rain fell across much of the eastern quarter of the ABRFC. The heaviest rain fell across far-eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, southwest Missouri, and western Arkansas, with 8"-12+" common. Other areas received heavy rainfall, as well, with much of Oklahoma, Kansas, northern Texas, and small areas of Colorado and New Mexico receiving 3"-6" of rainfall. The foothills of New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle didn't do as well, with some areas receiving less than 0.25" for the month. An animation of the most recent 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, and 180-day Percent of Normal precipitation across the ABRFC is shown in Figure 2. This animation shows how wet it's been across many areas of the ABRFC during the past 30 days, with much of the basin above normal. The most significant departures from normal during the past 180 days were across a small area of northwest Oklahoma and in New Mexico, where rainfall was near 50% of normal. During the same time period, rainfall was well-above-normal across eastern Kansas, Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and much of Colorado. Figure 3 shows a 6-week animation of how drought conditions have evolved across the ABRFC, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The significant drought conditions experienced during the summer are a distant memory now, with no drought areas depicted. Abnormal dryness (D0) remains across a small area in the Texas Panhandle. Figure 4 shows the latest Drought Severity Index map based on the Long Term Palmer Index from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC). This map shows general wetness across much of the ABRFC.

The CPC also generates the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (Figure 5). The current lack of drought conditions across the ABRFC is expected to continue during the next few months. The CPC's 3-month Precipitation Outlook is shown in Figure 6. The outlook calls for a 33-40% chance of above-normal precipitation along the Red River in Oklahoma and Texas.

Most reservoirs in eastern Oklahoma are above their normal pool levels on the Arkansas River (Figure 7) and the Red River (Figure 8).

Real-time river gage data from the USGS can be linked from Figure 9.

To view charts of the running precipitation total for 2009 compared to normal and previous years for several locations across the ABRFC click here.

Fig. 1: 30-day precipitation image ending 12Z on 10/29/2009 .

Fig. 2: Percent of Normal loop showing 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, and 180-day precipitation as of 12Z on 10/29/2009.

Fig. 3: 6-week animation of previous Drought Monitor maps. Click here for direct link.

Fig. 4 CPC's Long-term Drought Severity Index. Click here for direct link.

Fig. 5: CPC Seasonal Drought Outlook. Click here for direct link.

Fig. 6: CPC 3-month Precipitation Outlook. Click here for direct link.

Fig. 7: Tulsa District Corps of Engineers Percent of Conservation Pool for Lower Arkansas River

Fig. 8: Tulsa District Corps of Engineers Percent of Conservation Pool for Lower Red River

Fig. 9: Real-time USGS Streamflow Map. Click here for direct link.