Drought eases in parts of Minnesota thanks to another wet week

North-central, NW Minnesota remain in moderate to severe drought

drought 05-02
The latest drought monitor for May 2, 2024.
National Drought Mitigation Center

Areas of moderate and severe drought shrank some in the last week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report. Drought conditions continue to persist in north-central and northwestern Minnesota particularly.

Another wet week improves the drought

The biggest areas of improvement in the last seven days came in northeastern Minnesota in Lake and Cook counties and in west-central and southwestern Minnesota.

Most of southern Minnesota is no longer even abnormally dry. The exception is southern Mower and Fillmore counties where drought continues.

drought compare
The maps compare this week's and last week's drought monitor report. Red circled areas are the regions that saw the biggest changes.
National Drought Mitigation Center

The improvement is driven largely by yet another wet week. Central and southwestern Minnesota in particular saw more than 2 inches of rain in the seven-day period between last week and this week’s drought monitor reports, which are released on Thursdays.

7 day rain
Precipitation totals from Tuesday, April 23 through Tuesday, April 30
WeatherBELL Analytics

Importantly, much of that rainfall was above normal for the seven day period. It’s not enough to just receive rainfall but this time of year, you need more than three-fourths of an inch to eat away any rainfall deficits.

7 day precip anom
Precipitation anomalies (departure from normal): Tuesday, April 23 through Tuesday, April 30
WeatherBELL Analytics

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