Most of Wright County got some much-needed rain Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to lessen the county’s designation on the U.S. Drought Monitor, which released its weekly drought map this morning. Almost all of Wright County remains in the D-3 designation (Extreme Drought) and the drought situation in the county hasn’t changed over the last week. In all, almost 58 percent of Minnesota is listed as D-3 or D-4 (Exceptional Drought) More than 8 percent of Minnesota is listed under the D-4 category – the first time since the Drought Monitor began in 1999 that any portion of Minnesota has been included in the D-4 category. It is hoped that with heavy rains expected in the next few days that the grip of the drought will ease up in many portions of Minnesota, but, until then, much of the state remains significantly behind in the amount of rainfall needed to lessen their drought designations.

To see the Minnesota drought maps dating back to mid-July, go to the Wright County MN Facebook page.