Drought Conditions Slowly Improving in Minnesota

UNDATED (WJON News) -- There continues to be slow progress in the drought conditions in Minnesota.

Thursday's update from the U.S. Drought Monitor says five percent of the state is still in an Extreme Drought, down eight percent from last week.  That includes the St. Cloud metro area.

The Severe Drought is now at 40 percent, down from 44 percent.

The Moderate Drought is at 73 percent, down from 82 percent last week.

And the Abnormally Dry area is at 96 percent, down from 100 percent last week.  The area along the North Shore from Duluth to Two Harbors now has adequate rain.

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Ahead of the upcoming rain, St. Cloud has had .81 of an inch of rain so far in October, which is .23 inches below normal.  For the year to date, St. Cloud has had 21.30 inches of precipitation, which is 3.37 inches below normal.

Of course, much of the southern and central Minnesota area is expected to have a soaking rain over the next few days, which if we get it should dramatically improve the drought conditions moving forward.

After the next few days, the Climate Prediction Center says we will have an abnormally dry period from next week.

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