Severe Drought in MN Impacting Parts of the Lakeland Viewing Area

Credit: U.S. Drought Monitor

As the heat rises, many areas across Minnesota are considered to be in severe drought conditions, including parts of the Lakeland viewing area.

All counties in the viewing area are in moderate drought, and of 11 of those counties, all or some parts of them are in severe drought, including Beltrami, Hubbard, Koochiching, Itasca, Cass, Wadena, Todd, Morrison, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, and Aitkin counties.

Moderate drought means river and lake levels in those locations are lower than normal. Areas in the severe category indicate fire danger is high, river flow and crop yields are low, and landscaping is stressed.

The latest weekly precipitation map for Minnesota showed the areas affected gained less than half an inch of rain for the week of July 19-25.