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EmailMinnesota Drought: Location, Location, Location
Tuesday morning rains were quite the contrast. Some areas saw a lot of rain, some barely a trace.
Early reports out of Apple Valley indicated 3 to 4 inches of rain, while in Minneapolis, there was only a half inch. Chanhassen had an inch and 3/4, while Forest Lake saw only a trace. And so it goes across the state, some areas are fine, some in a mild drought, some in a severe drought.
Five hours after the heavy rain fell in Apple Valley early Tuesday, it was still puddled up on the side of the road.
"Oh it was pretty heavy this morning, I was up around 5 o'clock!" remarked Apple Valley resident Mike Alexander.
Alexander picked this day to fly a kite, unstable air made his task a bit of a challenge, but it was great for nearby farmers who got a good dumping of rain on their corn and other crops.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Meteorologist Patrick Hammer said "You get intense rains in some areas, its not as widespread or covering as much Minnesota real estate - to these are the kinds of rains that are a little harder to predict, some farms may get a plethora rain, some don't get a drop."
For Hammer, what is really remarkable on radar is how the precipitation funneled around parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri, and ended up falling in Minnesota: "but it completely avoided the central plains where the worst of the drought is right now."
State Climatologists say things here aren't great, but it could be far worse. Most of Minnesota is doing ok, with the exception of the southwest and northwest parts of Minnesota, where they are under a severe drought. Those areas are still living off moisture from rains that fell in May and June, and haven't had rain in weeks.
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