Lack of Winter Moisture Deepens Drought Concerns

Much of central South Dakota is in severe drought conditions heading into the spring planting season. Aberdeen-based National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Doering said the dry, warm fall and open winter didn’t help. “We did not get a lot of moisture or big winter storms and there were a lot of up-and-down temperatures with overall, above-normal temperatures.” Unless the area gets an injection of moisture sometime soon the conditions could continue into the summer. “I talked to a couple of farmers in the central part of South Dakota, and they are very concerned. They like the snowpack in March that helps the livestock dams for the refill so if we don’t get any winter storms and or heavy rainfall sometime in March or April, it’s going to really hurt them farming-wise, especially livestock.”