Drought gets worse for fifth week in a row, northeast Nebraska enters red zone

The U.S. Drought Monitor showed another week of worsening drought in Nebraska. While the western part of the state has seen extreme drought for a few weeks, northeast Nebraska entered the red zone this week.

The total drought area across the country went from 42.8% to 45.9%. Taylor Nicolaisen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Omaha, said with extreme drought there’s less rain, crops and trees start changing, and rivers and creeks slow down.

“It's all coming together that it's ugly here as of late,” he said.

Over the last six months, Omaha has only received about 14% of the moisture it normally does, and Norfolk has received 11%. Nicolaisen said it’s the fifth year of eastern Nebraska being drier than normal.

“That compounds itself,” he said. “We're trying to make up deficits from 2021, and it just gets worse and worse and worse.”

Nicolaisen added that it’s harder for thunderstorms, rain or snow to occur when the ground is really dry. He also said the dryness makes it hotter than usual, which intensifies drought conditions.

There is some hope, though, over the next few months. Nicolaisen said March, April, May and June are typically the wettest months of the year.

“We really hold a lot of our hopes in on the spring, and that's true every year,” Nicolaisen said. “Even these dry winters, you can make up a lot of ground in a hurry in March, April, May.”