While Nebraska could see its best shot at moisture in weeks arriving later this week and into early next week, a Nebraska Extension climatologist says the outlook still falls short of what is needed to meaningfully rebuild soil moisture across much of the state.
Eric Hunt, Nebraska Extension climatologist, said scattered chances of rain later in the week followed by a stronger system early next week may bring relief, but not enough to erase deficits that have been building through April.
“Even if we do get an inch between, say, Wednesday and early next week, that’s not probably going to actually really make a decent improvement,” Hunt said.
He said Nebraska is heading into its climatologically wettest time of year, but recent dryness means much of that benefit has been lost before it can soak in and rebuild reserves.
“We need to see kind of about double the amount of rainfall or precipitation for at least over a period of time for us to really start getting those deficits reduced and to really start recharging the soil moisture,” Hunt said.
Parts of eastern Nebraska have held up better, with recent drought monitor maps showing improvements along the Missouri River corridor and into portions of the southeast. But Hunt said conditions worsen moving west, where deficits are more entrenched and recent moisture has been limited or absent.
He said even with improving chances for precipitation, the state is not likely to see a full recovery from current dry conditions.
“My hope is that it is enough moisture in the western half of the state to at least get pastures in the cool season grasses up and going into at least something that resembles normalcy,” Hunt said. “I still think they would need pretty good precipitation in late, you know, the rest of April and into May for those to actually really be productive this year.”
Looking further ahead, Hunt said Nebraska has a limited window to take advantage of spring moisture before warmer temperatures increase plant water use and reduce the potential for recharge.
“We’ve got about another month where we can really actually get some decent recharge,” he said. “Once we get into June, it gets pretty difficult to get decent recharge even if you are getting good moistures because the plants use it up so quickly.”
