U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook valid thru December 31, 2021
Drought removal is likely (green areas), or improves (tan areas) over much of the upper Midwest over the next few months, while the brown area indicates that drought is forecast to persist through December 2021.
Drought update as of October 5, 2021
- 17% of Minnesota is in Extreme Drought, down from 23% last week.
- 48% of Minnesota is in Severe Drought, down from 50% last week.
- 66% of Minnesota is in Moderate Drought, down from 76% last week.
- 90% of Minnesota is Abnormally Dry, down from 93% last week
- 0.80% of Wisconsin is in Extreme Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 6% of Wisconsin is in Severe Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 15% of Wisconsin is in Moderate Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 43% of Wisconsin is Abnormally Dry, up from 31% last week.
- 0.43% of North Dakota is in Exceptional Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 58% of North Dakota is in Extreme Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 88% of North Dakota is in Severe Drought, down from 92% last week.
- 99% of North Dakota is in Moderate Drought, and is Abnormally Dry, both are unchanged from last week.
- 3% of the Midwest is in Extreme Drought, down from 4% last week.
- 12% of the Midwest is in Severe Drought, unchanged from last week.
- 21% of the Midwest is in Moderate Drought, down from 23% last week.
- 42% of the Midwest is Abnormally Dry, unchanged from last week.
U.S. Drought Monitor Class Change
October 5, 2021 compared to September 28, 2021.
Areas in green saw improvement in their drought, while areas in yellow saw their drought worsen over the last week.
Here’s the latest Palmer Drought Severity Index ending October 2, 2021
All of northeast Minnesota needs an additional 3-4″+ of precipitation to end the current drought, while most of northwest Wisconsin needs an additional 2-3″ of precipitation to end their drought.
Precipitation deficits for 2021 (thru October 6)
International Falls, MN: -6.67″ below normal
Duluth, MN: -6.05″ below normal
USDA Topsoil Moisture for the weekly period ending October 3, 2021.
Red=Very Dry
Yellow=Dry
Tim