Drought — Richland, Wisconsin

2023-07-01 to 2023-07-31 · Richland, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Abnormally dry conditions persisted through most of July and resulted in 100% of Richland County, or 590 square miles, being affected by at least severe drought conditions for the entire month. Conditions worsened to extreme across the entire county by mid July, but then some rainfall brought temporary slight alleviation in drought severity. Additional dryness later in the month returned 100% of Richland County to extreme drought conditions by the end of July. Monthly rainfall totals ranged from 2 inches below normal to 1 inch above normal in spots.

Wider weather episode

Ongoing abnormally dry conditions from late spring into the summer resulted in several counties in southwest Wisconsin being upgraded from severe drought conditions to extreme by the middle of July. Passing storm systems provided slight but brief improvement in drought conditions for select counties in southwest and central Wisconsin during mid July, only to worsen again by the end of the month. Highest departure from monthly rainfall totals was experienced in Vernon County where 2.5 to 4 inches of rain fell, which was 1 to 3 inches below normal.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1128802. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.