Drought conditions largely unchanged from last week in Minn., Wis.
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The latest report for the United States Drought Monitor shows drought conditions haven’t improved much – but also haven’t worsened – since the last data update.
According to the drought monitor, the percentage of Minnesota not experiencing any kind of dryness improved from 71.86% to 72.81%, a nearly 1% increase.
Meanwhile, the percentage of land area experiencing dryness decreased from 28.14% to 27.19%, with the amount of land experiencing a severe drought decreasing from 2.87% to 2.30%. The percentage of land experiencing moderate drought rose from 11.29% to 12.52%.
Severe drought conditions are still being experienced in the Twin Cities metro area, including parts of Washington, Ramsey, Hennepin, Carver, Scott, Dakota, Le Sueur and Rice counties, as well as a small portion of Nicollet, Sibley, Renville and Brown counties.
In Wisconsin, all of St. Croix County and parts of Polk, Pierce and Dunn counties are experiencing severe drought. Much of the northwest portion of the state is experiencing dryness, as well as a small portion of the extreme southeast corner of Wisconsin.
The latest report issued Thursday doesn’t include rainfall experienced in the metro late Wednesday evening. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Meteorologist Ken Barlow reports some places saw 2-3 inches of rain, while others barely saw any. Downtown Cambridge experienced flash flooding, and city officials reported 4 inches of rain fell within a two-hour span.
RELATED: Downtown Cambridge flooded after heavy rainfall
More rain is expected Thursday morning, as well as Thursday evening and night. Additional showers are expected Friday and Saturday before conditions are expected to improve Sunday.
CLICK HERE for the latest forecast and HERE for drought conditions across the United States.