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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Drought conditions improve in area

Unusual winter precipitation events should help boost water levels in area lakes

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 4/13/22

REGIONAL— While the merry-go-round of late winter snowstorms that have hit the area in late March and early April has frustrated North Country residents looking forward to spring, the storms …

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Drought conditions improve in area

Unusual winter precipitation events should help boost water levels in area lakes

Posted

REGIONAL— While the merry-go-round of late winter snowstorms that have hit the area in late March and early April has frustrated North Country residents looking forward to spring, the storms have offered a benefit that could help make for a better summer this year than in 2021.
Recent precipitation events have brought much needed moisture to the region, which has been plagued by drought for nearly a year.
But drought conditions have eased significantly, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which maps drought conditions throughout the U.S. Most of northern Minnesota went into the winter in severe-to-extreme drought, but a series of unusually prolific precipitation events, including a highly unusual record rainfall in mid-December, and several moisture-rich snow events in March and April, including this week’s snow and rain, have helped to ease conditions.
As of late last week, drought conditions across virtually all of St. Louis County were listed as “abnormally dry,” the lowest level of drought status. Northern Lake and Cook counties, along with virtually all of Koochiching County remain in moderate drought, according to the Drought Monitor, but that’s an improvement from the severe or extreme drought that had been in place in those areas earlier in the winter. Additional precipitation this week could further improve the drought conditions when the new weekly Drought Monitor map is released on Thursday, after the Timberjay’s weekly deadline.
Since Dec. 1, most area reporting stations are running from two-to-three inches above normal for precipitation, a significant departure in a four-month winter season during which the area typically sees approximately four inches of total liquid-equivalent precipitation. Most of that additional precipitation fell in December, when the majority of reporting stations saw more than twice, and in some cases three times, their average precipitation for the month.
While winter is typically almost desert-dry here in northern Minnesota, and typically does not contribute much to drought relief, this year was an exception. And that should help boost water levels, at least temporarily, once the snow and lake and river ice have melted.
The near-term forecast calls for a bit more sunshine, with dry conditions but with continued cool temperatures through the weekend and into next week. Weekend highs are forecasted in the low-30s, climbing into the upper-30s for next week, with lows mostly in the teens.
The normal high in Tower for April 15 is 51 degrees, with a normal low of 25 degrees.