Drought — Southern Aitkin, Minnesota

2023-07-11 to 2023-07-31 · Southern Aitkin, Minnesota

Event narrative

July began with a small area of D1 Severe Drought across the far southern reaches of southern Aitkin County with D0 Abnormally Dry elsewhere across the county. Dry conditions over the month saw D2 Severe Drought introduced with the update on the 11th and then expanding northward across the remainder of the southern part of the county by 25th. Rainfall deficits for the month of 2 to 4 inches were observed across the county.

Wider weather episode

Drought conditions rapidly worsened across the Northland during the month of July. After record snowfall in many areas over the winter, dry conditions took hold for the spring into the summer with rainfall deficits of 1 to 4 inches for the month across much of northeastern Minnesota. D1 Moderate Drought quickly took hold across the area during the beginning of the month with D2 Severe Drought spreading into far western and southern areas as the month progressed. Area creeks and rivers dropped to low flow levels and crops began to suffer across much of the region.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1122602. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.