Drought Area Continues to Grow in Minnesota

UNDATED -- The area of the state of Minnesota that is considered to be dry or in a drought continues to expand.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says Thursday that 34 percent of the state is now abnormally dry, which is up from 30 percent a week ago.

The area of the state listed as in a moderate drought is up to 14 percent, which is up from 7% a week ago.

And, the severe drought area is now at 4 percent up from 1 percent a week ago.

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The update is as of Thursday morning, but the statistics are as of Tuesday morning, so the rain that fell around the Twin Cities area late Tuesday night is not reflected in the update yet.

Here in St. Cloud, we've officially had 7.71 inches of rain so far during the summer months of June, July and August.  That is exactly normal, but of course, most of that came during one rain event in late June.  For the year to date so far we've had 21.46 inches of precipitation, which is still 4.49 inches above normal.

The next chance for rain looks to be late Friday night into Saturday.  We could possibly get about a half inch of rain during that time period.