St. Cloud Metro Back in Extreme Drought Conditions

UNDATED (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud metro area, along with a large swath of east central Minnesota, has returned to Extreme Drought.

This week's update from the U.S. Drought Monitor says the Exceptional Drought area has expanded from one percent up to three percent.

U.S. Drought Monitor

The Extreme Drought area now covers 26 percent, up from 19 percent last week.

The Severe Drought is now impacting 64 percent of the state, up from 62 percent.

Here in St. Cloud, we've had just one-tenth of an inch of rain in September, two inches below normal.

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As of today, we are on track to have the second driest September on record in St. Cloud, however, there is rain in the forecast for this weekend.

Driest Septembers in St. Cloud:
#1). .07" - 1952
#2). .10" - 2023
#3). .24" - 2012
#4. .61" - 2009
#5). .68" - 1943

National Weather Service

For the entire year, St. Cloud has officially had 17.94 inches of precipitation. That's nearly five inches below normal.

After a wet weekend, the Climate Prediction Center is indicating we'll wrap up the month of September with a dry week next week.

Climate Prediction Center

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