Most of Minnesota is now in a drought; less chance of rain ahead

Updated at 10:35am

Despite some locally abundant rainfall, the drought continues to spread. Thursday will be cooler than normal. The chances of rain are unpredictable in the forecast.

Most of Minnesota is now in a drought

For the first time this year, most of Minnesota is in a drought. The drought has spread to encompass 57% of the state, up from 39% two weeks ago. Severe drought has also increased to 8%, up from 5% a week ago.

It’s worth noting that the recent drought monitor includes data up until 7 a.m. Tuesday, so the 4th of July rainfall is not included in the monitor. This could slightly affect the expansion of the severe drought into the eastern portions of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Rain over the past seven days has been heavy in Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota, which has helped remove Duluth and parts of the North Shore from a severe drought. The region remains in moderate drought.

In case you’re curious about the drought-free pocket of southwestern Minnesota, this is a lingering effect of the deluge of rains those areas saw in early May.

Remember when the Minnesota River rose, making the Mississippi rise again? Some areas saw up to 8 inches of rain.

The area sticks out like a sore thumb when we look again at the rainfall anomalies (difference from normal) over the last 90 days. If the dry pattern continues, though, it’s only a matter of time before drought creeps into that area.

The map is a good example of how the luck of the draw can be with some areas in deficit by several centimeters while a few kilometers away it can be near normal or in surplus.

Chance of some light rain; warmer temperatures to come

It was a cold morning in northeastern Minnesota early Thursday. The low temperature dropped to 35 degrees in Hibbing with several spots reaching the upper 30s.

In the Twin Cities, we dropped to 56 degrees, the coldest reading in nearly three weeks, but only nine degrees cooler than the normal low of 65.

Well, we see the highs remain cooler than normal on Thursday across the state, especially in the 70s. This is our third consecutive day of cooler than normal temperatures, something that hasn’t happened since mid-May.

Low temperatures Thursday night will again be comfortable in the mostly 50s to around 60 in the Twin Cities with more upper 40s in northeast Minnesota.

We have the possibility of showers in northern and western Minnesota on Friday and again on Sunday in northern Minnesota. Southeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities could see some patchy chances early next week with only isolated chances over the weekend.

The total precipitation forecast through Monday favors northern Minnesota for measurable precipitation, but there is likely to be no significant precipitation anywhere in the state.