Drought — Ashland, Wisconsin

2023-07-11 to 2023-07-31 · Ashland, Wisconsin

Event narrative

July began with D1 Moderate Drought conditions covering the county. An area of D2 Severe Drought spread into the Ashland area and the Apostle Islands with the update on the 11th. D2 Severe Drought spread across the northern half of the county by the 18th and then much of the southern part of the county by the 25, with just the southeastern corner remaining in D1 Moderate Drought. Rainfall for the month was generally within a inch of normal, both above and below, but the sandy soil continued to dry as the month progressed.

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 3 inches for the month across much of northwestern Wisconsin, although there was an area of slightly above normal rainfall from eastern Bayfield County into southern Ashland, northeastern Sawyer and far northern Price counties. D1 Moderate Drought quickly took hold across the area during the beginning of the month with D2 Severe Drought spreading across much of the region as the month progressed. An area of D3 Extreme Drought was introduced during the middle of the month from northern Douglas County into northern Bayfield County as the sandy soils continued to dry out. 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 1123429. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.