St. Cloud Rainfall About Four Inches Behind as Drought Intensifies

(KNSI) – It will have to rain cats and dogs, and then some, to break St. Cloud out of its severe drought.

Senior Service Hydrologist Craig Schmidt says for the next three months you would typically see three-quarters of an inch per week. He notes that we have to start making up for a lack of rainfall as well over that time.

He says, “The normal precipitation for July, August, September, which is the next three months, is around 10 inches, 10 to 11 inches. And according to the Center for Environmental Information, we would need about 14. So, about four inches above normal over the next three months.”

Schmidt says what makes it trickier is the rain can’t come down in one or two deluges. It is best to get it about an inch at a time. He says the forecast over that period doesn’t give a lot of hope for a change to our dry summer. A ridge of high pressure is expected to keep storm systems away. That has led to cooler, wetter conditions towards the coasts nationally.

Regarding the consistent central Minnesota air quality alerts, Schmidt says the hazy skies from wildfires are both a blessing and a curse. He says, “It kind of does a little bit of both. The smoke will help shield some of that radiation coming down from the sun so we do maybe knock our high temperatures down a couple of degrees, but it also can diminish the convection or chances of thunderstorms or chances of rain developing. It’s kind of a little of a double-edged sword there with that smoke.”

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows an increase in moderate drought, or worse, to over 44% of Minnesota. About 5% is in severe drought. The dry conditions affect more than 4 million people.

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