Not Yet: Rain Will Help, but Not Stop Drought Conditions
After nine weeks of drought, the Twin Cities Metro is finally getting some rain. It’s a piece of welcome news since Minnesota has been experiencing one of the worst droughts in the state’s history.
Brown patches of grass and dried-up lake dams are becoming all too common this summer. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows Hennepin County in a moderate drought. The Twin Cities Metro is expecting two to three inches of rain from Thursday through Sunday morning. Forecasters say we’re about five inches below from where we should be for this time of year.
Brooklyn Park and other cities have issued water restrictions due to drought conditions.
“We’ll need more than what we’ll get this weekend, unfortunately. We’re far behind what the normal is for this time of year. So, it would definitely take more than three inches of rain to get out of the drought,” said Emily Harrington, Hennepin County Operational Meteorologist.
Farmers in Brooklyn Park are hoping to get some precipitation for plants. The soil in the area is sandy, so farmers must water more often. This type of soil could cause a different kind of problem during rainstorms.
“Because we have such dry soil right now, there is also the threat of having some flash flooding concerns or flooding concerns just because it’s going to take a little bit longer for the soil to absorb all that rainfall,” explained Harrington.
According to state climatologists, it will take at least five to nine inches of precipitation spread over about one month to alleviate the drought under current conditions.
