Drought in Minnesota, September 1 to 30, 2023

D2 Severe Drought conditions were in place across far southwestern Koochiching County to begin the month. Rainfall for the month was roughly near normal across the county with far northwestern areas trending a bit below normal as much of the remainder of the county saw slightly above normal rainfall. Most if this rainfall fell over the latter half of the month. There was a slight expansion of the area of D2 Severe Drought across the southwestern quarter of the county with the update on the 5th followed by a reduction to just the far southwest corner with the update on the 26th. The remainder of the county remained in D1 Moderate Drought throughout the month.

The northern portion of Itasca County was a mix of D2 Severe Drought and D1 Moderate Drought to begin the month. Roughly the western half of northern Itasca County was in D2 Severe Drought. Rainfall for the month was around a inch below normal across most of the area with the far northwestern corner seeing slightly above normal rainfall. With lingering dry conditions from August, D2 Severe Drought expanded across all of northern Itasca County with the update on the 5th. A very small area of D3 Extreme Drought was added at this time along the Mississippi River as well. Rainfall during the middle of the month led to a drastic reduction in the area of D2 Severe Drought with the update on the 26th leaving only the far western quarter of the area in D2 Severe Drought. A very small area of D3 Extreme Drought remained in the far southwest corner of northern Itasca County adjacent to Lake Winnibigoshish. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The southern portion of Itasca County was a mix of D2 Severe Drought and D1 Moderate Drought to begin the month. Roughly the western half of southern Itasca County was in D2 Severe Drought. Rainfall for the month was around 1 to 3 inches above normal across most of the area with the central part of the area seeing slightly below normal rainfall. With lingering dry conditions from August, D2 Severe Drought expanded across all of southern Itasca County with the update on the 5th. An area of D3 Extreme Drought was added at this time along and south of the Mississippi River as well. Rainfall during the middle of the month led to a drastic reduction in the area of D2 Severe Drought with the update on the 26th leaving only the areas along and south of the Mississippi in D2 Severe Drought along with the complete removal of the area of D3 Extreme Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The northern portion of Cass County was mainly covered by D2 Severe Drought with far southern areas in D3 Extreme Drought to begin the month. Rainfall for the month was around a inch below normal for areas north of Leech Lake while it was around an inch over normal over southern areas. With lingering dry conditions from August, D3 Extreme Drought expanded across all of northern Cass County with the update on the 5th. Rainfall during the middle of the month led to a reduction in the area of D3 Extreme Drought with the update on the 26th leaving the northwestern three-quarters of the area in D3 Extreme Drought with D2 Severe Drought elsewhere. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The southern portion of Cass County was mainly covered by D3 Moderate Drought to begin the month. Rainfall for the month was around a inch below normal for areas near the Crow Wing River while it was around an inch over normal over much of the remainder of the southern part of the county. Rainfall during the middle of the month led to a reduction in the area of D3 Extreme Drought with the update on the 26th leaving all of the area in D2 Severe Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

Cass County was mainly covered by D3 Moderate Drought to begin the month with a small area of D2 Severe Drought across the far southern reaches of the county. Rainfall for the month was around 1 to 2 inches above normal across the county. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D3 Extreme Drought to the entirety of the county by the update on the 12th. Rainfall during the middle of the month led to the removal of D3 Extreme Drought with the update on the 26th leaving all of the area in D2 Severe Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The northern portion of Aitkin County saw a mix of D3 Moderate Drought and D2 Severe Drought to begin the month. D2 Severe Drought covered the northern half of northern Aitkin County with D3 Extreme Drought across the southern half. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D3 Extreme Drought across the remainder of northern Aitkin County along with the introduction of a small area of D4 Exceptional Drought in the far southeastern corner of northern Aitkin County with the update on the 5th. Rainfall for the month was around 1 to 3 inches above normal with much of it occurring over the latter half of the month. This led to a reduction in the area of D3 Extreme Drought with the update on the 19th in northeastern areas followed by a complete removal of D4 Exceptional Drought and D3 Extreme Drought across the area. While most of the area remained in D2 Severe Drought, a small area of D1 Moderate Drought was introduced in the northeastern corner of the county. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The southern portion of Aitkin County saw a mix of D3 Moderate Drought and D2 Severe Drought to begin the month. D2 Severe Drought covered the far southern reaches of the southern part of the county with D3 Extreme Drought across the remainder. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D3 Extreme Drought across the remainder of southern Aitkin County along with the introduction of a small area of D4 Exceptional Drought in the far northeastern corner of southern Aitkin County with the update on the 5th. Rainfall for the month was around 1 to 3 inches above normal with much of it occurring over the latter half of the month. This led to the complete removal of D4 Exceptional Drought and D3 Extreme Drought across the area with the update on the 26th, leaving the area in D2 Severe Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

The month began with D3 Extreme Drought across all of Carlton County and extreme southeastern St. Louis County with D2 severe drought over far southern St. Louis County. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D3 Extreme Drought far southern St. Louis County as D2 Severe Drought expanded into the remainder of southern St. Louis County. Additionally, an area of D4 Exceptional Drought was added across the southwestern half of Carlton County. Rainfall for the month was around 3 to 6 inches plus above normal with much of it occurring over the latter half of the month, primarily during two heavy rainfall events that led to flash flooding in the Duluth area and along parts of the North Shore. This led to a reduction in the area of D3 Extreme Drought followed by the complete removal of D3 Extreme Drought and D4 Exceptional Drought by the update on the 26th. While much of Carlton County and far southwestern southern St. Louis County remained in D2 Severe Drought, the remainder of the area improved to D1 Moderate Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

Pine County began the month with a mix of D3 Moderate Drought and D2 Severe Drought across the area. D2 Severe Drought covered the southern third of the county with D3 Extreme Drought across the northern third. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D3 Extreme Drought across the northern half of the county along with the introduction of a small area of D4 Exceptional Drought in the far northwestern corner of the county with the update on the 5th. Rainfall for the month was around 2 to 4 inches above normal with much of it occurring over the latter half of the month. This led to the complete removal of D4 Exceptional Drought and D3 Extreme Drought across the area with the update on the 26th, leaving the northern part of the county in D2 Severe Drought. No additional changes were noted over the last few days of the month.

September began with a small area of D2 Severe Drought across the southwestern corner of southern Lake County. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D2 Severe Drought across all of southern Lake County with the update on the 5th. A heavy rainfall event on September 11th led to the removal of D2 Severe Drought from southern Lake County with the update on the 12th. Another heavy rainfall event occurred later in the month resulting in rainfall of 4 to 7 inches above normal for the month. This helped improve the area to D0 Abnormally Dry by the end of the month.

September began with a mix of D1 Moderate Drought and D0 Abnormally Dry across the area. Lingering dry conditions from August led to the expansion of D2 Severe Drought across the southern half of Lake County with the update on the 5th. A heavy rainfall event on September 11th led to the removal of D2 Severe Drought from southern Lake County with the update on the 12th. Rainfall of 1 to 3 inches above normal for the month helped improve most of the area to D0 Abnormally Dry by the end of the month.