Temperatures in the High Plains region were mostly near- or warmer-than-normal this week, with temperatures in eastern Nebraska and eastern South Dakota ranging from 3-6 degrees above normal. (Temperatures west of the Continental Divide were mostly below normal, though conditions in Wyoming and Colorado will be discussed in the West section.) Deficits in precipitation and soil moisture grew in parts of eastern Nebraska, where abnormal dryness and moderate drought expanded. North-central and western South Dakota also saw expansion of abnormal dryness and drought as short- and long-term precipitation deficits grew amid declining soil moisture and streamflow. Parts of central Colorado, especially near and east of Denver and Colorado Springs, saw conditions degrade this week as precipitation deficits grew. Similar conditions in north-central Colorado and south-central and northwest Wyoming, leading to degradations there. A small area of improvement occurred in north-central Wyoming, where vegetation conditions improved after recent precipitation. Scattered heavier rains fell in showers and thunderstorms that moved across parts of the Great Plains of northeast Colorado, the northern half of Kansas, parts of southwest and southeast Nebraska, and the Missouri and Big Sioux River corridors in South Dakota and northeast Nebraska. These rains locally improved drought or abnormally dry conditions.

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