The Twin Cities area is seeing some much needed rainfall Thursday.

While the inch of rain that's expected to fall throughout the day won't undo the damage from the recent drought, it will prevent the area from drying up further, said National Weather Service meteorologist Michelle Margraf.

Rain is expected to continue across the state throughout Thursday, and the showers in the Twin Cities should taper off around early Friday morning, Margraf said.

More than 90 percent of the state is in moderate drought, and Margraf says 3 to 5 inches of rain is needed to pull out of the dry spell.

The added precipitation made for a longer morning commute as drivers struggled to keep it together in both urban areas and the southern and western suburbs.

Temperatures will stretch toward 40 degrees Thursday and winds will near 15 mph.

On an even drier note, exactly 84 years ago on this date, severe dust storms were reported in St. Paul. Dust swept across southern and western Minnesota at the start of what is known today as the Dust Bowl period.

-- Anne Millerbernd is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Anne Millerbernd • 651-308-7126