In a year where many portions of Minnesota have been hammered by severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, the U.S. Drought Monitor has released its weekly map of Minnesota and a swath of the central and southern portion of the state has been included in the Abnormally Dry category https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?MN.
It is a far cry from last year, when Wright County spent much of the summer in the Extreme Drought category and portions of Minnesota were designated with Exceptional Drought – the first time Minnesota ever had that designation.
While the Abnormally Dry designation isn’t viewed as significant to crops, if adequate rainfall doesn’t arrive in the coming weeks, the drought level designation will likely increase.