Drought — Houston, Minnesota

2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Houston, Minnesota

Event narrative

Ongoing drier than normal conditions, comprised of 10 weeks of at least severe drought (D2), worsened to exceptional drought (D4) for parts of Houston County through the middle of September. By September 11th, under a quarter of an inch of rain fell, resulting in top soil moistures 50% below normal. The consequential drought classification was upgraded to exceptional drought (D4) for nearly half of the county. A series of storms provided 3 to 5 inches of rainfall during the second half of September, approximately an inch above normal for the time period. These above normal rainfalls resulted in removal of exceptional drought (D4) towards the end of September as extreme (D3) and severe drought (D2) persisted for most of the area. The United States Department of Agriculture declared Houston County as a contiguous natural disaster area due to the drought on September 13th and 21st.

Wider weather episode

Ongoing abnormally dry conditions worsened drought severity through the first half of September for all counties in southeast Minnesota. Rainfall totals during this time remained under a half of an inch, up to 2 inches below normal. The result was exceptional drought (D4) being realized for a portion of southeast Minnesota by the middle of the month, including Mower County and much of Fillmore and southern Houston counties. Resultant topsoil moisture values were 70% below normal through the third week of September. Widespread impacts were reported from volunteer observers and broadcast media. Stunted corn, very dry pastures, and stressed fruit trees limited the growing season. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources raised their drought response phase to restrictive (D4) towards the start of September, asking residents of southeast Minnesota to limit outdoor water usage by 25%. A series of storms through the second half of the month provided near 5 of rainfall for much of southeast Minnesota. Highest 24 hour rainfall reports from volunteer observers included 4.4 near Kasson (Dodge County), 3.92 north of Rochester (Olmsted County), and 3.7 near Harmony (Fillmore County). The resultant soil moisture content for the final week of September neared 20% above normal for much of the area. The increased rainfall totals also resulted in the removal of exceptional drought (D4) across southeast Minnesota for the final drought monitor issuance of September. Extreme drought (D3) persisted for 75% of the local area through the end of the month. The United States Department of Agriculture declared most of southeast Minnesota as primary or contiguous natural disaster areas due to the drought to provide financial assistance.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1139911. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.