Drought — Northern Itasca, Minnesota

2021-08-01 to 2021-08-31 · Northern Itasca, Minnesota

Event narrative

The northern part of the county began the month with a mix of D3 Extreme Drought across the far northwestern corner of the county with D2 Severe Drought across the remainder. Little rainfall during the first two weeks of the month led to the upgrade of the remainder of the northern part of county to D3 Extreme Drought on the 17th. Moderate to heavy rainfall during the last week of the month brought the monthly rainfall total to near to slightly above normal levels, but with seasonal deficits in excess of 3 to 6, no improvement in the drought was seen.

Wider weather episode

Rainfall remained below normal for most of northeastern Minnesota through the month of August keeping much of the region in D2 Severe Drought or higher. Rainfall deficits of 1 to 2 inches for the month were common, although areas from the Brainerd Lakes area northward to the International Falls area saw near to above normal precipitation thanks to a more active pattern at the end of the month. However, with year-to-date deficits still in excess of 3 to 6 inches, drought conditions persisted. Additionally, this was the warmest summer on record in Duluth and the lack of rainfall led to Lake Superior falling below normal levels for the first time since 2014.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 972103. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.