Blizzard warnings in Northwest Minnesota, winter weather advisories across the state

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

East-central Minnesota is no longer considered abnormally dry thanks to soaking rains early this week. The North Shore is out of moderate drought but drought hangs on in north-central and southeastern Minnesota.

The latest drought monitor out Thursday morning shows improvement in east-central Minnesota, including all of the Twin Cities area and also most of the North Shore. 

Moderate to severe drought stubbornly hangs onto north-central Minnesota and far southeastern Minnesota. The data cutoff for the Thursday report is 7 a.m. Tuesday. 

Comparing this week’s to last week’s drought monitor, you can see the visible changes in east-central Minnesota and most of the North Shore region. Moderate drought conditions hang onto most of Cook County.

The improvement for some is due largely to the soaking rains received Sunday into Monday. Much of east-central Minnesota and the North Shore saw up to 1 inch or more of rainfall. 

Pictured below is seven day rainfall between last week’s and this week’s drought report data points. 

The pattern looks to remain potentially wet and active into next week. A storm system is set to bring widespread, soaking rains potentially Monday into midweek. That’s reflected in the six to 10-day precipitation outlook. 

In the medium-range forecast term, conditions are expected to slightly favor drier conditions. Below are the eight to 14-day outlooks and week three outlooks.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sven Sundgaard

Author

East-central Minnesota is no longer considered abnormally dry thanks to soaking rains early this week. The North Shore is out of moderate drought but drought hangs on in north-central and southeastern Minnesota. 

East central Minnesota is no longer considered abnormally dry thanks to soaking rains early this week. The North Shore is out of moderate drought but drought hangs on in north central and southeast Minnesota. 

Drought conditions improve for some, persist for others

Go Deeper.

Like this?