Drought is spreading across Minnesota as the state is hit with warmer than average temperatures
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A lack of significant rainfall, warmer temperatures and wildfire smoke could possibly be the forecast for Minnesota over the summer.
Despite some cooler days, the average temperatures for the first half of June ranged from four to seven degrees warmer than normal — making this month one of the five warmest months in state history.
The warmer, dryer air didn’t help Minnesota’s drought. Most of the state saw less than two tenths of an inch of rain over the past week. June is generally the wettest month of the year for most of Minnesota. While the forecast gives the state a better chance of rainfall over the next few weeks, it’s hard to tell if it’ll be enough to offset the growing drought.
Poor air quality remains a frequent visitor to the state. Smoke from Canadian wildfires caused some of the worst air quality measures since the summer of 2021.
Retired University of Minnesota climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley explained that the Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) has been measuring air quality since 1980 and recorded Wednesday’s unhealthy air quality from160 to 180 AQI values with some hourly readings over 200 in the Twin Cities area.
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Seeley in their weekly weather chat.
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