Some Areas Abnormally Dry

Posted on Thursday, June 4, 2009

Parts of South Dakota are starting to reappear on the US Drought Monitor map.

State Climatologist Dennis Todey says a band of counties from the Pierre area, extending southeast through Chamberlain to Vermillion is now considered abnormally dry.

He says precipitation deficits in April and especially May, ranging from two to four inches, have drawn down soil moisture reserves.

Todey says the drier conditions are a result of the shift in the weather pattern as the US is in the transition between La Nina and El Nino.

Todey says National Oceanic and Atmosperic Administration is currently indicating this pattern will continue through the summer and the main growing season.