The Missouri River Basin (MRB) Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) Strategic Action Plan outlines priority tasks and activities to build drought early warning capacity and resilience. In early 2017, meetings were held to update the existing strategic plan, including a new focus on enhancing tribal capacity to use drought information and the use of new tools and drought indicators across the region. Before that plan could be finalized, drought quickly engulfed the Northern Plains region.
In order to ensure the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in the implementation of our DEWS, NIDIS launched a Tribal Drought Engagement initiative in January 2019 in collaboration with the Masters of the Environment Program at University of Colorado-Boulder. The project aimed to strengthen relationships with tribal resource managers across the Missouri River Basin and Midwest DEWS regions in order to effectively deliver timely and relevant drought information.
Provides information on the typical La Niña winter pattern; the La Niña outlook; potential winter and spring impacts; and comparisons of conditions during previous La Niña years.
NOAA’s Regional Climate Services Program created these outlooks to inform the public about climate impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the Drought Portal.
This drought status update was originally sent via email to the Southern Plains DEWS email list.
This drought early warning update was originally sent via email to the Missouri River Basin and Midwest DEWS email lists.
A two-page status update on drought conditions, including current conditions, impacts, and outlook, in the Midwest and Northern Plains regions for June 21, 2018.
Significant Drought Impacts Reported in Kansas, Missouri, Southeast Iowa
Extreme to Exceptional Drought Worsens in Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa Since Mid-July
- Drought conditions have increased in severity and coverage across the central United States since mid-July, particularly in MO, KS, IA, MI, MN, ND, and SD.
- Despite some recent rains, exceptional drought(D4) persists in KS and MO.
- Agriculture and water supply have been the most negatively affected by this summer’s drought conditions. Some of the recent rainfall may help soybeans and pasture recovery, but it likely fell too late to help stressed corn.
In 2011, the Missouri River Basin experienced devastating flooding, which caused significant property loss and disrupted thousands of lives. In 2012, the basin experienced extreme drought that impacted water supplies and downstream navigation. Historically, the climate of this region shows a general tendency for both very wet and very dry months in a given year.