WATFMeetingSummaryJuly2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JULY 2008 DROUGHT UPDATE The U.S. Drought Monitor map show s the eastern part of Colorado continue s to be abnormally dry and intensifies east into Kansas . Southeastern Colorado is categorized as experiencing exceptional drought conditions agriculturally and hydrologically. This has negatively impacted the wheat crop and cattle farms. 22 eastern coun ties have requested for Disaster Declaration in hopes of receiving emergency loans from the federal government. T he adjacent map shows the 22 Colorado Counties that have requested Disaster Declaration. The counties in blue have requested Drought Disaster to Governor Ritter. Two counties, Fremont and Delta, h ave requested Freeze Disaster assistance and only Pueblo County have requested assistance for both. All counties are waiting for approval so they can access federal emergency loans. The Significant Fire Potential map shows a majority of the state is at a lower risk for wildfires. Regional preparedness for Colorado is l ow to moderate with a level 2 out of 5. Nationally, preparedness is 4 out of 5. Forecasters have predicted a normal fire season this year for Colorado. Predictions may not reflect reality as it is difficult to receive fire information from local fire dep artments. Recently the Northwestern part of the state has seen a pickup in fire activity. Long Term Forecast Summary Forecasters are optimistic for the end of the summer and predict wetter than average conditions for Eastern and Southwestern Colorado which is in contrast to typical La Niña conditions. C limate P rediction C enter models are predicting a wet early fall this year. Most forecasts have predicted near - neutral conditions going into the winter months but a return of La Niña is possible especially since strong er L a Niña events last more than one winter. N OTE: The maps and graphics depicted in this report were those presented at the Ju ly 2 5 , 200 8 meeting and may have been updated since the meeting.