MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — In good news for the state’s farmers, the new U.S. Drought Monitor report shows improving conditions.
Davison County and the surrounding areas are still mired in severe drought, but the super cell that soaked McCook and Minnehaha Counties on Sunday, and sparked several tornado warnings, has nearly busted the drought in that area. Officials said as much as three inches of rain fell Sunday night. McCook went from 100% in severe drought to just 10.5%. The bulk of the county has been downgraded to the moderate drought level. Minnehaha County went from 100% severe drought to only 47.75%, with all of the gains seen in the western half of the county near Humboldt.
The northern half of the state is in the best shape. When tracing a straight line starting at the lower edge of Butte County to the east, nearly everything above that mark is only abnormally dry or at normal soil moisture. South Dakota’s southern half sees drought getting worse heading towards the Nebraska border. Moderate drought gives way to severe, and finally pockets of extreme drought. The worst drought is in the Black Hills.
This week’s reading was taken on Tuesday morning. The Mitchell area has recorded about a third of an inch of rain since then. Hit and miss showers and thunderstorms remain a possibility through early Friday. High temps are expected to be in the nineties beginning on Saturday. Early forecasts are pointing to the possibility of triple-digit heat for the middle of next week.
