(Lincoln, NE) -- This week's U.S. Drought Monitor Map shows just slight improvement in Nebraska's drought picture. Nearly five percent of the state is not abnormally dry or in some form of drought. That's an increase from 4.5 percent week. The map shows some improvement in areas that have been in moderate, severe, and extreme drought. The areas of the state in exceptional drought, remain unchanged. The National Weather Service says there's a chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight (Thursday) and again on Friday, and possibly on Saturday.
From the U.S Drought Monitor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln:
Light rainfall at best fell on Kansas and farther north across the Dakotas. In contrast, heavy precipitation augmented by intrusions of monsoonal moisture covered large areas from Colorado and Wyoming eastward into western Nebraska. Dryness and drought eased in these areas, with improvement most widespread across the southern half of Wyoming and in the Colorado High Plains. Precipitation in these areas generally exceeded an inch, with 2 to 4 inches falling on several areas from southeastern Wyoming into northwestern Nebraska. Outside of the band of heavy precipitation that brought some improvement to Nebraska and adjacent areas, little or no rain fell on central and southern Kansas, and across most of the Dakotas, with South Dakota recording less rainfall than areas to the north. As a result, dryness persisted or intensified in these areas. Most of the Dakotas and the eastern tier of the Region measured near or below half of normal for the last 3o days, with several patches across the central Dakotas and southeastern Kansas receiving 25 percent of normal or less. In sharp contrast, most areas from central Wyoming through eastern Colorado and western Nebraska reported 150 to locally over 300 percent of normal since mid-July.