Southeast Wisconsin drought conditions improve, aided by soaking rain
Updated drought map as of Thursday, Aug. 1, 2023
MILWAUKEE - Sufficient rainfall over this week has significantly helped our drought conditions across southeast Wisconsin. The latest drought monitor released on Thursday, Aug. 17 went from severe/extreme down to moderate/dry.
Drought map from Aug. 10,
The first long rain event was on Monday, Aug. 14 when areas received 2-4" with isolated higher amounts.
The second rain event was early on Thursday, Aug. 17. Those early morning storms brought between ¼ inch and ¾ inch of new rain.
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This week's rainfall totals, 2.52", is more than we even saw in April, May, or June.
While this is a step in the right direction for drought improvement, southeast Wisconsin still has a long-term deficit remaining at 5.42" over the growing season period of April 1 through Aug. 17.
Despite our growing season being very dry, from January 1st through Aug. 17th, we only have a 0.75" deficit. Overall, we are close to average in terms of precipitation for the entire year of 2023. The reason why this year has been so challenging in terms of drought conditions is because during the spring and summer months when gowning season occurs, we have had such a large deficit of rainfall.