Need an Inch of Rain Every Week for 3 Weeks to Alleviate the Drought
Meteorologist Megan Moulford joined me on WJON today. She says to alleviate the effects of the drought we would need an inch of rain for three straight weeks. She says who is hit hardest by the drought in Minnesota varies depending on the amount of rain they have received this summer. Moulford says portions of the metro over the weekend received more than an inch of rain while the St. Cloud area fell short of that with the combined rain that was received over the weekend.
Moulford talked to me today about how they formulate a forecast. She says there are climate models and trends they look at to determine the possibility of rain and temperatures. Moulford says it is much easier to forecast temperatures than it is to pinpoint when and where rain showers and storms will occur. She says they tend to be more accurate with their forecasting the closer to the day they are forecasting. Moulford says they look at 10 day forecasts. She says those that look approximately 2 months or more ahead of time are climatologists.
Winter storms can be a bit trickier to forecast according to Moulford. She says temperatures along with precipitation amounts and where the rain/snow or sleet with happen can be tough. It can be tough to narrow down snow fall amounts depending on many variables. Moulford says as they get closer to the day that they are forecasting snow events become clearer.
Megan Moulford appears on WJON weekday mornings during the Morning News Watch at 6:24, 6:40 and 7:40. Listen to my full conversation with Megan below.