(KNSI) – Recent rainfall has pushed Minnesota’s drought numbers down, and severe drought now covers less than half the state.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, puts 46.19% of Minnesota in severe drought or worse, down from 52.46% a week earlier. The report reflects conditions as of Tuesday, September 8th.
Central Minnesota, including Stearns, Benton and Sherburne counties, sits inside the band of severe and moderate drought running across the middle of the state.
Extreme drought, the second-most severe of the monitor’s five categories, shrank slightly to 4.25% of the state, down from 4.57%.
This week, 70.7% of Minnesota is in at least moderate drought, compared with 79.72% last week. Some 94% is abnormally dry or worse, down from 95.53%. Just 6% of the state carries no dryness designation at all, up from 4.47% a week ago.
The driest ground is in Norman, Clay and Wilkin counties along the North Dakota border, Pine and Carlton counties in northeastern Minnesota, and an area just south of the Twin Cities.
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