By DJ Kayser, filling in for Douglas:
I feel like I’ve said this a lot the past several years, but we need some moisture once again. Drought continues to expand in Minnesota, with 22.3% of the state in moderate drought this week — up from 18.7% last week. Nearly 65% of the state is ranked as abnormally dry. While these drought conditions exist mainly in the northern half and southwestern region of Minnesota, most of us (except far southeast and northwest Minnesota) are a good 1 to 3 inches below average rainfall-wise over the past month.
A few scattered showers are possible Friday night into Saturday, but a majority of the last weekend of October looks quiet. We are still watching a system for the first half of next week. While question marks remain as to the exact details, at least periods of rain in the Monday-through-Wednesday time frame can be expected.
Meanwhile, snowflakes were reported in parts of northern Minnesota on Wednesday. International Falls picked up a trace of snow, with the National Weather Service in Duluth reporting that the observer said it was a very wet snow. Winter is coming.
