Drought worsens for most of Minnesota; little rain in sight

Drought conditions worsen across Minnesota with hot weather and little or no rain in the next several days. The approaching heat wave could be record-breaking and the hottest this late in 45 years.

More hot, dry weather worsens drought

The latest drought monitor shows drought expanding and worsening in Minnesota thanks to two weeks of overall dry and warmer-than-normal temperatures.

The notable changes are the expansion of areas in severe or extreme drought. Much of the Twin Cities area is now back in severe drought, and extreme drought really expanded across north-central and southeastern Minnesota.

Rainfall over the past seven days has been very localized. On top of that, we had our most recent heat wave with more hot, dry weather ahead.

More heat and little rain in sight

Unfortunately, there’s little rain in the forecast over the next several days. Northwestern Minnesota will see some isolated thunder Thursday but otherwise most of the region will see low chances of rain until the middle of next week.

The string of hot and dry days ahead will likely worsen the drought. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 90s for most of southern and western Minnesota Friday into early next week.

We could break records in a few places. We have not seen a September heat wave with this many potential consecutive 90s in 45 years in the Twin Cities.