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weekly drought monitor maps. As will be discussed later, this year cheatgrass is very <br /> abundant and robust. That character is directly due to this three week wet period which came <br /> at a time that was very favorable for cheatgrass growth. <br /> Unfortunately, that moisture came to an abrupt end as the weather turned very dry and <br /> unusually hot. This was due to a"giant"high pressure ridge that spanned the southwestern <br /> U.S. with heat that is rarely seen even in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts. This heat and <br /> dryness often expanded eastward to include eastern Colorado. There were some brief periods <br /> where it was pushed back and the weather became cool and slightly damp. By the first week <br /> of July, DIA was nearly 1.5 inches below normal for the year when a month earlier it had <br /> been about 0.5" above normal. As the North American Monsoon winds arrived cloud cover <br /> increased and humidity increased a little. But the lower levels of the atmosphere are now so <br /> dry there needs to be a major surge of low level moisture for the very wet clouds to drop <br /> significant rain. At least the frequent heat waves have abated some. As a result, areas on the <br /> surrounding prairie seem to be entering a slightly early dormancy with a lot of yellowing of <br /> the grasses. Perhaps moisture can come and delay an early brown out of the prairie <br /> vegetation. <br /> Some of this pattern is due to being at the tail end of a La Nina event. Eastern Colorado is <br /> typically dry during these times and this year was no exception. Unusually dry?Not really. <br /> But after a couple of years of good moisture it seems worse than it is. The drought monitor is <br /> still neutral for this area. But the heat waves during June were unusual and very intense with <br /> very little afternoon cloud cover. The decline from about 0.5" above normal for the year to <br /> nearly 1.5" below normal in the course of one month is quite dramatic and quite unusual. <br /> Missing 2" of moisture during the early part of the growing season when prairie grasses do <br /> most of their growing will have significant impact on productivity unless the weather <br /> becomes unusually wet for about a month. Long range forecast models do not indicate that <br /> happening. <br /> With regard to temperature, even a quick examination of the included graph here will show <br /> that since the beginning of 2017 the temperature has been in the above normal range far more <br /> than it was in the below normal range. In the last few years, this pattern seems to have <br /> become the "new normal."In Denver, Snowdrops and Winter Aconite were blooming before <br /> Christmas rather than in late January or early February as is normal. This year, during the <br /> June 2016 to June 2017 period Denver became a city with year round garden flowers. That is <br /> not even close to the way it has been over the last 70 years. Clearly, something is changing. <br /> 2. Topsoiling-No topsoiling was done in the last year. <br /> A. Locations of topsoiling- N/A. <br /> B. Depth of topsoiling- N/A. <br /> C. Final grading of topsoiled lands-N/A. <br /> Status report for 2017 due July 15, 2017 Page 4 of 6 <br />