Extreme drought conditions return to Minnesota
Drought conditions worsen with very little relief in sight
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Minnesota's drought situation took a major step backward this week. Severe drought expanded from just 1 percent of the state to nearly 10 percent. And first area of extreme drought appeared in Minnesota since March 2024.
A sharp week-to-week deterioration
Our latest drought monitor highlights a concentrated area of severe drought across portions of central Minnesota, including Cass, Hubbard, Wadena, western Itasca, and northern Crow Wing and Aitkin counties. Another area of severe drought is present in southwestern Minnesota, encompassing portions of Rock, Pipestone and Lincoln counties.
Severe drought has expanded dramatically over the past week, now covering nearly 10 percent of the state compared to just 1.2 percent a week ago. Additional drought concerns continue to develop across southwestern Minnesota, where the state's first area of extreme drought has emerged since March 2024.
More than 75 percent of Minnesota is now classified as at least "abnormally dry", while just more than 32 percent of the state is experiencing moderate drought.
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The deterioration comes despite some scattered rainfall during the past week. A look at seven-day precipitation totals show much of central and southern Minnesota received only 0.25 to 1.5 inches of rain, with some drought-stricken areas missing out on the heaviest precipitation altogether.
June is typically Minnesota's wettest month of the year, and many locations need to average more than 1 inch of rainfall per week just to keep pace with normal precipitation.
While localized pockets picked up more substantial rainfall, the coverage was too limited and uneven to provide meaningful relief from the ongoing drought.
Unfortunately, forecast guidance suggests widespread improvement may not arrive anytime soon.
The latest European AI Forecast System ensemble shows below-normal precipitation across nearly the entire Upper Midwest through June 22.
Much of Minnesota is forecast to receive between one-half and one and one-quarter inches less precipitation than normal over the next 10 days, with some of the largest deficits centered across southern and western portions of the state.
