Minnesota Extreme Drought Area Grows Fivefold In One Week

(KNSI) – The area of Minnesota in extreme drought grew nearly fivefold in a single week, and almost the entire state is now abnormally dry or worse.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, released Thursday, August 27th, puts 3.50% of Minnesota in extreme drought, up from 0.71% a week earlier. Extreme drought is the second-most severe of the monitor’s five categories.

Conditions worsened at every level. Severe drought now covers nearly half the state, 48.08%, up from 44.86%. More than three-quarters of Minnesota, 78.34%, is in at least moderate drought, and 95.29% is abnormally dry or worse. Only 4.71% of the state is drought-free, down from 11.83% the week before.

Central Minnesota, including Stearns, Benton and Sherburne counties, remains inside the band of severe and moderate drought stretching from the western border across the middle of the state.

The slide has been fast. Three months ago, just 0.40% of Minnesota was in severe drought, and no part of the state had reached extreme drought. A year ago, 96.80% of Minnesota was drought-free.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center expects the drought to persist into October.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has placed the Mississippi Headwaters watershed under its Drought Warning Response Phase, citing what state climatologists call a “storage drought,” a critical depletion of lake levels, soil moisture and groundwater. St. Cloud sits within the affected watershed. The city says it is working with the DNR for guidance.

The Mississippi River remains a reliable source of drinking water for St. Cloud, but officials say conservation is a key part of the response. The city is encouraging residents to cut back on water use both indoors and out.

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