After our long winter and all of that rain, could we actually be headed in the opposite direction?
We haven't had to say the “drought” word in months.
“I have a hunch that by the end of next week, drought may creep back into parts of Minnesota,” explains WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas. “I hope that's not the case, but that seems to be the pattern that we're in for the summer. Hot and dry as opposed to cool rainy, any flash flooding.”
WCCO Meteorologist Paul Douglas says we'll stay in our unusually hot, hazy, humid bubble through much of next week. It’s summertime weather more typical of mid-July than late May and early June.
Douglas also shared a nugget from the State Climatology Office, who said when we have two or more days in May above 90 degrees, we tend to have very hot summers. Those summers have far exceeded the average number of 90 degree days due to summer starting early.
"I think it's going to be a long, stinking hot summer," says Douglas, who adds that heat will be accompanied by a lot of dry days.
Much of central and northern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin have moved into Abnormally Dry drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor which just released an update Thursday. That is including much of the Twin Cities metro. Far southern and southwestern metro counties are excluded for now.
The current U.S. Drought Monitor shows a lot of abnormally dry weather in Minnesota (yellow).(U.S. Drought Monitor / NOAA)
The listing of abnormally dry is one step below the lowest level of drought. It means there is some short-term dryness which can slow planting and growth of crops. It can also include water deficits and begin to stress plants.
There is a slight chance of some popup showers or thunderstorms over the next week but no widespread rain in Douglas’ forecast. He says the atmosphere will be a bit unstable each day after 3:00-4:00 p.m. which could lead to some random, heavy rains. However, he says it is far too random to predict much rain across the state.
"To answer the question, 'when and where?' I don't know," Douglas says in all honesty. "It's chaos theory. These storms are random. It's like trying to predict when and where you'll sneeze. Good luck with that."
