Drought

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NAOO) released their prediction for winter precipitation. The bad news? The Great Plains region will continue to experience drought through at least January 2025. This is not good news for Nebraska landscapes, since the entire state is currently experiencing anywhere from abnormally dry to extreme drought conditions.

Whew, has it been hot! Scorching temperatures and dry conditions in the last few weeks have made it difficult for both people and plants. Our trees are still recovering from the last two years of severe drought and are not fully recovered yet. Fall watering is one of the best things homeowners can do to prevent further stress and help their trees continue to recover.  

But the drought’s over, why are trees still stressed? 

During severe drought, as we experienced in 2022-2023, trees were damaged in several ways as listed below.  

Did you realize some evergreen needles change color in the fall too, just like deciduous trees do? It's true and it often causes alarm in homeowners when their evergreen trees start to drop needles.

Looking at your pine trees this time of year, you may see generalized yellowing of the tree, brown needles or brown branches. Several problems could be responsible, including winter burn and winter drying, Diplodia tip blight or pine wilt. And unfortunately, some trees can be affected by more than one problem at a time.

Just as drought has caused havoc in many lawns, we’re also seeing damage in trees. Even very drought tolerant trees like eastern red cedar and Colorado spruce have extensive damage or have been killed completely.

Death of branches or a whole tree are very obvious and visible effects, but drought can also cause damage in more subtle ways affecting trees and other woody plants for several years to come.

What happened to our April showers? The Lincoln area received only 0.59 inches of rain – measured at the Lincoln Airport - instead of our normal 2.69 inches for April. May is not looking good either – only 0.49 inches so far, compared to our normal 4.91 inches. I cringe to think what the rest of summer bring!

We ended 2022 with a serious rainfall deficient – 11.90 inches below normal, measured from January 2021 through December 2022. In 2023, that deficit has gotten even larger. We’re now 15.22 inches below normal (January 2021 through April 2023).

Lancaster County ended 2022 under very dry conditions – approximately 11 inches below normal rainfall. Dry conditions continued throughout winter bringing us into spring with the entire state still experiencing drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Lancaster county is currently classified with “severe drought” conditions. To find the drought conditions for your location at any time throughout the year summer, visit droughtmonitor.unl.edu.

Summer 2022 was hot! The Lincoln area had 66 days of 90+ F days from May through September 30. And this was often coupled with very windy conditions! In unwatered portions of the landscape many gardeners saw lawns turning brown, soil pulled away from driveway and sidewalk edges, and possibly even scorch symptoms in trees. These are all good indications when our our landscapes are dry. For a current look at Lincoln drought status, visit U.S. Drought Monitor.

High temperatures and dry conditions have resulted in many lawns turning brown in the last few weeks, but all plants suffer during hot, dry conditions not just lawns. From June 1 to July 24, 2022, we’ve had 24 days of 90+ degree heat this summer. Lancaster County had a rain deficit of 0.75 inches in June and we’re also 0.84 inches short for July, based on normal monthly rainfall averages from the High Plains Regional Climate Center (CLIMOD). For a current look at Lincoln drought status, visit U.S. Drought Monitor.