Drought — Southern Aitkin, Minnesota

2021-09-01 to 2021-09-21 · Southern Aitkin, Minnesota

Event narrative

The southern part of the county began the month in D2 Severe Drought with the southeastern corner in D1 Moderate Drought. Rainfall of around an inch fell during the first half of the month and did not put a dent in the yearly deficit. Moderate to heavy rainfall during the week of the 16th-20th totaled almost 2 inches and brought the monthly rainfall total to around a half inch above normal. This rainfall was enough to lift the remainder of the southern part of the county out of D2 Severe Drought leaving a mix of D1 Moderate Drought and D0 Abnormally Dry as of the update on the 21st. The pattern turned dry again the last week of the month and no additional changes were observed.

Wider weather episode

Rainfall varied widely across northeastern Minnesota during the month of September with much of the region remaining in D2 Severe Drought or higher. Many areas saw slightly above normal rainfall for the month, but with year-to-date deficits still in excess of 3 to 7 inches, drought conditions persisted. Some slight improvement in conditions was seen during the middle of the month from the Brainerd Lakes area northward to the International Border with the removal of D4 Exceptional Drought and a reduction in the expanse of both D3 Extreme Drought and D2 Severe Drought.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 986491. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.