Drought — Crawford, Wisconsin

2023-08-01 to 2023-08-31 · Crawford, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Ongoing drier than normal conditions, comprised of 7 consecutive weeks of at least severe drought (D2), worsened to extreme drought (D3) for the entirety of Crawford County through August. Monthly rainfall total neared 1 inch, which mostly fell in the first half of August. The monthly rainfall total was at least 2.5 inches below normal, or 10 to 50% of normal. Through the latter half of August, extreme drought (D3) expanded through the western half of Crawford County, impacting all 594 square miles of the county. The United States Department of Agriculture declared Crawford County as a contiguous natural disaster area due to the drought on August 17th.

Wider weather episode

Several storms through the first half of August in parts of western and central Wisconsin provided one half to 3 inches of rainfall, abating any initial expansion of the ongoing severe (D2) to extreme drought (D3). Through the latter half of August, total rain fall remained at or below 1 inch, which was 1 to 3 inches below normal. This resulted in expansion of the severe and extreme drought areas, affecting approximately 70 percent of the local area. Farmers reported variable crop conditions with overall yields 15 to 30 percent of normal. Well below normal cuttings of hay resulted in farmers having to purchase feed for livestock. As as a result of the inclement growing conditions, the United States Department of Agriculture issued disaster declarations for western Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported an increase in wildfires attributed to the ongoing drought as 6 times as many acres had already been consumed by wildfires compared to the same time the previous year.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1135351. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.