Climate of 2005 - December
U.S. Regional Drought Watch

Regional Overview

• Several states had the tenth driest, or drier, month in December and also for multi-month seasons (October-December, July-December, January-December and others). These states include:
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Illinois
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • New Mexico
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas
• Record dry conditions were reported at stations in Florida and Hawaii and statewide for Arizona and Arkansas in December.
• Arkansas had record dry conditions for several seasons back to February-December, and the second driest year.
• During 2005, the Arklatex (southwestern Arkansas, southeastern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas) experienced the driest year in the 111-year record.
• The prolonged dry spell magnified the threat of wildfires in parts of the southern Plains. Dry, windy, and warmer-than-normal weather contributed to the outbreak of numerous grassfires in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico in December and the beginning of January. According to media reports (New York Times, 1/4), more than half a million acres and more than 500 homes had been burned, with at least 5 people dying due to the winter inferno. Burn bans were in effect across much of Texas.
• In Texas, continuing dry conditions and slowly dropping lake levels prompted the Lower Colorado River Authority to ask Colorado River water users to conserve water voluntarily (Lower Colorado River Authority press release, 12/14). State Extension agents noted that, in some counties soil moisture was very dry with rangelands and pastures in poor condition, stock ponds very low or completely dry, and livestock suffering. In Missouri, the Farm Service Agency reported that low ponds and dry streams were affecting livestock water supply. The ongoing drought put growing pressure on dwindling water supplies in some Arkansas communities. Reservoirs in the Fort Smith area had only a four-month supply of water (KATV, 12/25).
• An examination of USDA snowcourse/snotel station data in Arizona revealed that 31 of 33 sites, or 94% of them, were snow free on January 1, the most snow-free locations in at least the past 40 years.
• End-of-month and month-averaged soil moisture conditions were drier than normal across a broad swath from the southern Plains to the Ohio Valley, a band from the central Plains to the Great Lakes, and parts of the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, based on model computations (CPC-1, CPC-2, MRCC). The models also indicated dry soil moisture conditions in parts of Alaska and Hawaii, and near the surface and at depth from southeast Nebraska to the western Great Lakes.

These overall conditions are evident in the following indicators:

• Palmer Drought Indices,
• Standardized Precipitation Index,
• long-term (36 to 60 month) percent of normal precipitation maps,
• airport station percent of normal precipitation maps,
• statewide precipitation rank maps,
• Cooperative station percent of normal precipitation maps,
• percent of average maps for the SNOTEL stations in the western mountains provided by the Western Regional Climate Center
  • hydrologic year precipitation,
  • snow water equivalent of snowpack,
• snow course snowpack observations in the western mountains provided by the USDA NRCS
• satellite-based observations of vegetative health,
• National Weather Service model calculations of
  • soil moisture,
  • runoff,
  • evaporation,
• National Weather Service model calculations of soil moisture using the Leaky Bucket Model,
• Midwest Regional Climate Center model calculations of soil moisture,
• streamflow maps maintained by the USGS.

A detailed review of drought and moisture conditions is available for all contiguous U.S. states and the nine climatological regions:

• Streamflow levels were below seasonal norms across much of the southern Plains to Ohio Valley states, and parts of the central Plains, Lower Great Lakes, Southeast, Southwest, and Hawaii, as computed by models and based on USGS observations.

• Above-normal precipitation in the drought areas of the Pacific Northwest brought improvement to the western U.S. drought percentages. About 14 percent of the western U.S. (Rockies westward) fell in the moderate to extreme drought category (as defined by the Palmer Drought Index) as of the end of December. Aggregated reservoir levels in the West (provided by the USDA) reflected the long-term precipitation deficits in many states.

Additional Contacts:

• Weekly, Monthly, 3-Month, 12-Month Monitoring
• El Nino, Drought, Snow Cover, and Degree Day Monitoring
• Weekly Drought Monitoring
• Soil Moisture Monitoring

• For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
  
  
  Climate Services Division
  NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
  151 Patton Avenue
  Asheville, NC 28801-5001
  fax: 828-271-4876
  phone: 828-271-4800
  email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
  
  
  
• For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
  
  
  Richard Heim
  NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
  151 Patton Avenue
  Asheville, NC 28801-5001
  fax: 828-271-4328
  email: Richard.Heim@noaa.gov
  
  
  -or-
  
  
  Jay Lawrimore
  NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
  151 Patton Avenue
  Asheville, NC 28801-5001
  fax: 828-271-4328
  email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov