Minnesota has been in and out of drought conditions since 2021, but rain today and all of our snow so far this winter bring both good news and something to watch according to the experts at the National Weather Service Twin Cities office.
While half of the state still is in a state of drought, Senior Hydrologist Craig Schmidt says we could see an easing of those conditions by the end of Spring.
"We have improved our drought classification one to two categories over the winter where we did have some severe and extreme drought over Central Minnesota that has changed over just to abnormally dry and maybe some moderate drought."
On the flip side, Schmidt says there's a likely chance of some minor Spring flooding this year. He advises people who live in flood-prone areas to make sure they have flood insurance in place as soon as possible since policies typically don't take effect for 30 days.
"We're looking at two and a half to four inches on the ground. Once that starts to melt, especially if it melts fast or if we get more rain on top of it when we have warm temperatures, we could certainly see some pretty decent flooding."
You can keep up with drought conditions in the state here.