Drought declared over

The rain might have interrupted a few early-summer barbecues around the area, and many a vehicle and siding panel could have done without the hail, but Crook County has officially been raised out of drought conditions thanks to all the recent precipitation.

While the lower half of the county does remain “abnormally dry”, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the northern half is experiencing no drought conditions at all at this time.

This is quite the turnaround from just three months ago, when the entire county was listed as experiencing ongoing severe drought, with a quarter of the county at the even higher rating of “extreme drought”.

Will it last? The U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook published by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center seems to think so.

The three-month outlook, valid until the end of September, suggests that drought will persist across much of Wyoming, but not in Crook County, where it will lift entirely.

Crook County has so far received 0.25 inches more moisture in 2022 than normal, with 0.2 extra inches in May.