Drought Remains Unchanged, Even With Dry November

(KNSI) – A dry November isn’t adding to the drought locally.

Central Minnesota has seen next to no rain this month. Only about five-hundredths of an inch fell Monday night, the first drops in weeks. Still, things are much better now than what we saw throughout much of the summer.

The latest readings from the U.S. Drought Monitor show about nine percent of Stearns County is in severe drought. Another 45% is in moderate drought. Most of the western half is only abnormally dry. Sherburne County is almost entirely in moderate drought. Benton County continues to be hit the hardest, with almost 20% in severe drought and the rest in moderate drought.

The drought remained remarkably consistent across Minnesota over the past week. Abnormally dry conditions expanded by only a fraction of a percent. Severe and extreme drought continue to make up about 18 percent of the state. Moderate drought covers another 25%.

Temperatures will be below average for the rest of the week, with several days failing to break the freezing point. That won’t bring with it any snow, though. St. Cloud got about 2.5 inches in October and has yet to see even a flurry so far this month.

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