When is it going to rain???

It’s just insanely dry and I see nothing but sun and heat on the extended forecast. This is probably the worst drought I’ve seen in my adult life.

Am I just in an unique area or are others this dry?

The driest area of the state is down near Rochester in Olmstedt County. Last year I can recall not recording a single drop of rain for two months in September and October. We may be on that same path this fall.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?MN

I was going to tag Gim, but the resident Meteorologist beat me to it!

Weather terrorism at its finest right here!

Looks hot and dry for a while…could definitely use some rain.

I guess I feel lucky here in Blaine, it was super hot and dry for most of the summer and don’t get me wrong its been far from good here lately but have had enough to stop trying to water the lawn and actually had to cut it a couple times lately.

Gim is kinda our Belinda.

Do others feel it’s the worst drought in their life? Anything to compare to?

Worst in my life? Probably not.

Most consecutive years with depleted soil moisture in my life? Maybe.

The bigger problem locally is that we are having soil that is drier and drier at depth. Many who have been “fine” through these dry summers aren’t going to be if they keep stringing together like this with regards to ag, wells, etc

I think every city and county event this year was pulled off without a drop of rain. Good for them. Bad for growing things, and my prop. Don’t ask, ruined a 12+ year perfect record.

1976 is the worst I have seen. DNR CLOSED all fishing and hunting for good
part of the fall. Shut the resorts down in northern 1/2 of the state. Folks owned a resort during that time, it was DRY!

That was the year that the town of Tamarack almost burned. The bogs smoldered into the winter.
My last year living as a Jackpine Savage.

John Rasmussen wrote:

I guess I feel lucky here in Blaine, it was super hot and dry for most of the summer and don’t get me wrong its been far from good here lately but have had enough to stop trying to water the lawn and actually had to cut it a couple times lately.

Gim is kinda our Belinda.

you really mean Wren… Right!!

2024.

It was terribly dry here in SW WI in 1988. I had AC installed in the house and bought a new lawn mower. Didn’t shut the AC off from the last week of June till Labor Day.
Used the new mower twice in early June and twice after LD. Mower was still new in 89.

Hydro wrote:

1976 is the worst I have seen. DNR CLOSED all fishing and hunting for good
part of the fall. Shut the resorts down in northern 1/2 of the state. Folks owned a resort during that time, it was DRY!

What is the rationale for closing fishing and hunting because there is a drought?

I think last year might have been worse for my area in MN judging by my lawn and the droughts maps. This year is hot on its tail though.

Drought is actually good for a lot of things. We had way too many wet years in a row not too far back. Would be nice to get back to normal here soon though.

if i remember correctly they closed it because it we SOOO dry they feared hot tailpipes and other things were a serious threat to start wildfires!!!!!

MX1825 wrote:

It was terribly dry here in SW WI in 1988.

1988 is widely considered the hottest and driest year on record here in MN. I believe that the period this spring from May 1 – July 1 was drier. Some areas did receive good rains in late July and the first half of August, including me. I have not had any since Mon, Aug 14 now though and there is another unseasonably hot early September heat wave coming.

I wasn’t living here in 1988, so I can’t say if it was worse. All my neighbors and relatives who were living here say that was the worst summer though.

glenn57 wrote:

if i remember correctly they closed it because it we SOOO dry they feared hot tailpipes and other things were a serious threat to start wildfires!!!!!

I’ve heard that one before when hunting out west during drought but they never changed any outdoor recreation rules. Just told people to be careful and aware. Some common sense can go a long way. Don’t think I’ve ever heard of a tailpipe fire before but I am sure they happen.

I’d be giving them the big middle finger and going about my hobbies if they tried to close hunting and fishing. Kinda like when they told me to stay home during start of Covid. Empty roads and lakes. Heck yeah pack the boat, we’re going fishing!

A lot of our country could use a good wildfire. That is also a good thing from time to time along with the droughts. Humans tend to forget these things and focus on ourselves.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Do others feel it’s the worst drought in their life? Anything to compare to?

Two years ago was worse than this around Aitkin. Mississippi was bouncing from just below a foot to just over a foot for a while. Still running 1.5 feet today. Last year is was closer to 4 to 6 foot this time of year.

Mike W wrote:

Two years ago was worse than this around Aitkin. Mississippi was bouncing from just below a foot to just over a foot for a while. Still running 1.5 feet today. Last year is was closer to 4 to 6 foot this time of year.

This is the 2nd summer in a row my boat slip has been unusable this time of year on Mille Lacs. Very low water.

remember that fall also, fishing hunting closed for nearly all of October, thats when I took my vacation. Bad fire at Badoura nursery area south of Motley, peat bogs burning for a year. public access closed, no smoking out doors. Also 1988 real bad, told people not to worry about their yards, they would go dormant, well dormant as in dead/ Believe 45 days of over 90 in the cities

I’ve been living on the croix for 23 years. The last 4 years seem to be the same levels as 2000-2012.(normal pool) From 2012-2018 were high all year round. Really high. I’m estimating the years. I used to mow the low backwaters of my property 20 years ago. Then 6-10 years of high waters made that impossible. Now I can mow that part again for the last 3 years.

We had 2 families move in during the 6 plus years of high water. The last 2 years they were concerned about the low water levels and thought it never happened before. I showed them pictures of early 2000’s. It’s normal pool.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Am I just in an unique area or are others this dry?

The most recent drought monitor was released this morning. The area on the north side of Mille Lacs is now in fact some of the driest in the state.

Check out southeast MN down into NE Iowa and SW Wisconsin. Massive areas of extreme drought now. It won’t surprise me if this area gets changed to the worst category of drought in a week, exceptional drought. Especially with a string of 90’s on tap and no rain in sight.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?Midwest

Here’s a screen shot of the Minnesota drought monitor that Gimruis links to above.

What makes this year particularly bad is that not only is ALL of MN is in some kind of drought. At best, you’re abnormally dry, but then it only gets worse from there. And then look at Wisconsin and Iowa. Same story virtually statewide in all 3 states.

As others have said, the worst I’ve seen was 1976 and even though I was a kid, I remember literally dry lakes back then. We lived in Wabasha then, and we could not use our normal boat launch which was on a backwater because the whole backwater was dry from the normal edge to the main channel, so the river at that point must have been 6-8 feet below normal summer levels.

Gawd, the stink too. I remember the stink as backwater deep holes dried up and there were carp trapped in them that then rotted in the sun by the thousands.

That summer we used to stay with the neighbor lady some days when my mom was on call for hospital duty and had to go to work. Several times that summer Nelda loaded us up in her Cadillac and took us to see the latest barge that had run aground. I remember one that was just south of the Chippewa River delta at the south end of Pepin, and we walked out from the Reads Landing side and the front of the barge was just a few feet from dry land. I wonder how they got that out of there, it was as grounded as I could imagine.

Later when we moved to western MN, I recall a neighbor telling me that the pond in the middle of town did not exist before 1976. It was a marsh area but with no visible wwater and it was so dry in 76 that the city took advantage and dug out swamp to make it a small lake.

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I don’t think it’s close to the worst ever, we haven’t even had watering restrictions or bans this summer. A lot of people saying 1988, wasn’t that the same winter that had a ridiculous amount of snow?

I guess it depends on where you are. There is watering bans in my area, but I am on a well.

i could be wrong here but i’m pretty sure here in Cold Spring we always have a watering ban in the summer months, it is an odd even number thing???

glenn57 wrote:

i could be wrong here but i’m pretty sure here in Cold Spring we always have a watering ban in the summer months, it is an odd even number thing???

Mine is the same way, regardless of whether we’re in a drought or not, between May 1 and the end of September. Odd/even days only based on your address, no sprinkler watering between noon – 6pm.

There are exceptions though, like new sod or manual watering of gardens, etc.

Most water municipalities have some kind of watering restrictions. Suzuki has posted that he can only water twice a week in Woodbury.

This week I mowed my grass for only the 4th time of the summer. My pond is about 2 ft low and is the lowest its been since I’ve lived at my house (~7/8 years). Definitely the worst drought I can remember for my land since I’ve had it.

Difference between watering restrictions and ban

We got a good soaking this morning in Northern Chisago county.