Text Products for DGT Issued by MPX

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Twin Cities, MN
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Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
944 AM CDT Sat Sep 25 2021

...DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE ACROSS MINNESOTA...

.SYNOPSIS...

.Drought intensity and extent:

Between September 15th and September 21st, 2 to 5 inches of rain was
observed from southwest Minnesota up to the western end of Lake
Superior. Within this region, a broad 1 category improvement in
drought conditions occurred with the September 23rd update. Some
Severe Drought (D2) remains from Alexandria up to Staples,
otherwise, the rest of central and southern Minnesota. In western
Wisconsin, only some Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions remain near the
Minnesota border.

.Hydrologic conditions:

The one region where streamflows remain well below normal is the
Mississippi River basin from the confluence of the Crow River across
central Minnesota up to its headwaters. Otherwise, stream flows
across the rest of the region are near normal.

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

.Agriculture impacts:

The growing season is all but done across the region, with the
harvest now kicking into gear. Recent rains since the end of August
have greatly improved soil moisture conditions across Minnesota in
particular, but for the status of the crops, this rain was too late
to help with damage done during the dry period from July through the
first half of August. In Minnesota, an 18-bushel per acre decrease
in corn yield is expected over what was seen in 2020, with soybean
yields expected to be slightly lower than last year, with late
season rains helping recover some of the soybean yield. Pasture and
rangeland conditions continue to show improvements in MN as well,
though 57% of these lands are still rated as poor to very poor. In
mid August, this number was at 77%.

For soil conditions, in Minnesota, 35% of the topsoil moisture is
rated as short or very short, with 56% of the subsoil moisture rated
as short or very short. In Wisconsin, 28% of the states topsoil
moisture is rated as short or very short, with 27% of its subsoil
moisture having the same ranking.

.Hydrologic impacts:

Rainfall since the end of August has greatly improved hydrologic
conditions across Minnesota, with some recovery in lake levels and
ground water levels noted and only the Mississippi River in central
Minnesota still dealing with below normal flows.

.Fire hazards:

Recent rainfalls continue to result in low fire danger across across
central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

.DROUGHT MITIGATION ACTIONS...

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has maintained the
drought warning for the state. Given recent rainfalls the
Mississippi headwaters have been moved from the drought restrictive
phase and into the drought warning phase. In Minnesota, the
following basins have been allowed to move from a drought warning to
drought watch phase, the Des Moines, Minnesota, Big and Little Sioux
basins, St. Croix, and Skunk and Wapsipinicon basins.

.LOCAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK...

The last week of September and the first week of October are
expected to bring above normal temperature and little in the way of
rainfall. This should put a pause to recent improvements in drought
conditions, with what happens with rainfall in mid-October
determining whether or not we see a return to drought degradation or
see further improvements.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

This product will be updated again no later than October 14, 2021.

.RELATED WEBSITES...

U.S. Drought Monitor: www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu
Current MN drought Conditions: www.drought.gov/state/minnesota
Current WI drought Conditions: www.drought.gov/state/wisconsin
Climate Prediction Center (CPC): www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov Midwestern
Regional Climate Center: mrcc.isws.illinois.edu
MN Climatology Working Group: climateapps.dnr.state.mn.us/index.htm
WI State Climatology Office: www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco
MN DNR Fire Danger:
www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/fire/firerating)restrictions.html
WI DNR Fire Danger: dnr.wi.gov/topic/forestfire/restrictions.asp
NWS Precipitation Data: www.water.weather.gov/ahps/
USGS Hydrologic data: www.water.usgs.gov
USDA crop reports: nass.usda.gov

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving NOAAs
National Weather Service and National Centers for Environmental
Information, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state and
regional climatologists, and the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Information for this statement was gathered from NWS and Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) observation sites, state cooperative
extension services, USACE and USGS.

.CONTACT INFORMATION...

If you have questions or comments about this report please contact:

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen
1733 Lake Drive West
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Phone: 952-361-6670
Email: nws.twincities@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
