Drought Conditions Improve in East Central Minnesota
UNDATED (WJON News) -- After the rain we had earlier this week, the U.S. Drought Monitor says much of east central Minnesota has adequate moisture levels for now.
The upgrade includes the southern half of Stearns County as well as all of Benton and Sherburne Counties.
The entire state is now at 87 percent abnormally dry, an improvement from 99 percent last week. However, the Moderate Drought level remains at 44 percent, and the Severe Drought remains at 11 percent.
St. Cloud has officially had 1.08 inches of rain since Sunday, which is .32 inches above normal for the month so far. St. Cloud has had 3.99 inches of precipitation since the first of the year, which is .23 above normal.
After a warm and dry period through the weekend, the National Weather Service says we could have more showers and possibly some thunderstorms early next week.