Majority of Northland continues to experience severe to exceptional drought

Desptie recent rainfall, long-term drought issues persist in the Northland.

Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor update reflected little to no change compared to last week’s report. The weekly update reflects precipitation received by Tuesday morning of a given week.

An area of exceptional drought, which is the worst level of drought, continues to stretch from northeastern Koochiching County across the Red Lake area of Beltrami County and into the Red River Valley. Extreme conditions persist across much of northeast Minnesota.

Minor improvement is reported for a sliver of the Northland. Parts of northern Carlton County, southeast St. Louis County, and southern Lake County moved from an extreme drought to a severe drought.

The South Shore of Lake Superior in norhtwest Wisconsin continues to experience severe drought.

Related: Interested in see the fall colors in the Northland? The WDIO Storm Track Meteorologists are tracking the autumn change on the Fall Color Guide.

The report included an update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided on September 12th. "Lingering impacts from summer drought left 63% of Minnesota’s pastures in very poor to poor condition," the report said.

LINK: U.S. Drought Monitor