Despite week of rain, Minnesota still in "moderate drought," officials say
This week's wet weather has been a welcome sight given the ongoing drought and recent fires in the Northland. The latest drought monitor map, released May 15, still shows almost a quarter of Minnesota in a moderate drought.
"We look at hundreds of pieces of data each week," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Rainfall, soil moisture, and lake levels are just a few of the variables needed to figure out just how bad a drought is.
"And this assessment is done manually. We don't plug all this data into a computer model that spits out a map," Fuchs said.
He says that information is extremely valuable for just about everyone from farmers to firefighters, especially after a warm, dry winter.
"And that's kind of what we've been seeing in the northern part of the state," said Fuchs. "There's quite a bit of fuel available and that dryness has kind of been lingering on into the spring."
Fuchs has been drawing the drought maps with a number of colleages for 20 years. He said the 2 to 4 inches of rain across southern Minnesota this week will certainly help, but it's more than just the amount.
"We know that 2 inches of rain over a half hour is very different than two inches of rain over 24 hours, especially in states that agriculture is a big part of the economy," said Fuchs. "And so, trying to figure out exactly what happened with that rainfall — when it happened, did it all run off? Did some go into the soil? Did none go into the soil?"
He said that analysis wouldn't be possible without the help of nearly 500 contributors across the country — acting as the eyes and ears on the ground.
"Having that kind of expertise, contributing week in and week out through their state climate office that you have up in Minnesota is a great attribute to not only the state of Minnesota, but also the importance of the Drought Monitor and making sure we get it right," said Fuchs.
With less rain across northern Minnesota, Fuchs anticipates the drought will worsen there. You can find the newest map each Thursday morning here.
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