Drought conditions continue to worsen, expand across Minnesota and Iowa

(ABC 6 News) – The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report was released on Thursday and it showed no signs of improvement in drought conditions across Minnesota and Iowa.

In Minnesota, severe drought conditions have worsened from the previous week. Data shows that 62% of the state is now considered to be in a severe drought, up from 55% a week ago.

Also, extreme drought conditions, which plague most of southeastern Minnesota, have worsened, covering 19% of the state, up from 16% last week.

Exceptional drought conditions went unchanged from last week, covering less than 2% of the state with parts of Mower and Freeborn County experiencing the worst of the drought conditions.

According to statistics, an estimated 5,297,359 Minnesotans live in drought areas. Using the state’s population from the 2020 census (5,706,494), this means nearly 93% of Minnesotans are dealing with the drought.

Meanwhile, in Iowa it’s much of the same.

Severe drought conditions saw a big increase from the week before. Data says 73% of the state is suffering from severe drought, up from 55% just one week ago.

Extreme drought conditions have worsened slightly, covering 25% of the state last week, to 26% this week.

Nowhere in Iowa is there exceptional drought.

According to statistics, an estimated 2,986,730 Iowans live in drought areas. Using the state’s population from the 2020 census (3,190,369), this means 94% of Iowans are dealing with the drought.

According to the ABC 6 Weather First team, occasional showers and a rumble of thunder will be on and off for Friday. However, rainfall isn’t expected to be much. Aside from a stray, and very early rain shower Saturday, the weekend is trending sunny and dry.

It doesn’t look to be much, but right now the latest long-range forecast models are trending the end of next week a bit damp, with rain a possibility next Wednesday through Friday.