Many parts of our region dealt with just a few inches of snow. The bullseye of the the Wednesday morning storm was a small section of Lakes Country, where more than nine inches fell.
Several recent rainfalls have started to have an impact on the U.S. Drought Monitor, with the version released on Sept. 2 showing slowly improving conditions in the region. Much of the region has been wet as of late, with northern Iowa particularly so, Wheeler said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor didn't improve much this week, even though much of the drought-stricken areas of the Northern Plains received heavy rain. StormTRACKER meteorologist John Wheeler explains why that is and what's coming next in the weather.
Minnesota's overall drought conditions worsened from last week, when the state hit the exceptional drought category for the first time since the inception of the modern U.S. Drought Monitor in 1994.
StormTRACKER Meteorologist John Wheeler said little rain is expected in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest in the coming weeks, and after a brief period of mild temperatures another heat wave is expected later in August. That means the drought situation likely won't improve much.
Drought conditions are likely to continue to worsen in the region as high temperatures and little precipitation mean already dire soil moisture is expected to get worse.
WDAY meteorologist John Wheeler said conditions have worsened in other places, including Minnesota and northcentral Iowa. The deep moisture profile, he said, shows that there simply has not been enough rain.
