Large area of Minnesota now impacted by severe drought
MINNEAPOLIS -- As Minnesota weathers extreme heat this week, more of the state is now experiencing severe drought conditions.
According to the weekly report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 30% of the state is in severe drought, with much of the affected area being the eastern side of the state, including the Twin Cities.
Just over 80% of the state is seeing at least moderate drought, while under 2% of Minnesota is seeing extreme drought.
It's Thursday morning, which means the new drought monitor was released. Drought in #mnwx and #wiwx continues to expand. Precip cutoff is 7am Tue, so heavy rain Tue night was NOT considered for the maps issued this morning (will be considered for next week). pic.twitter.com/8Uv0MyxNjI
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) July 27, 2023
Nearly 5 million Minnesota residents are living in areas of drought, according to the drought monitor. That figure has gone up 4.2% since last week.
Notably, this weekly report does not reflect the rainfall seen on Tuesday evening, since the cutoff for the report is Tuesday morning.