MINNEAPOLIS — Rivers are high, lakes are full and more rain is on the way.
Throughout the past few weeks, that has been the rinse and repeat headline across Minnesota.
Kenny Blumenfeld, Minnesota's senior state's climatologist, says we haven't hit any all-time records for rain or flooding, but after four straight months of above average precipitation, it's amazing how far we've come.
"It can be hard to appreciate just how wet we've been because the drought monitor doesn't have an opposite," Blumenfeld said. "There aren't categories for how wet it is, so you just either have no drought or you have drought. We spent the first part of the 2020's in significant drought — especially during the summer — and we're right now clear of drought and even 'abnormally dry' conditions in Minnesota for the first time since 2020."
Though, it's too early to know how long this wet pattern will last, Blumenfeld says current long-range forecasts and historical trends, hint that we're in the midst of a big swing.
"When we look back at previous major drought episodes, which we have had since 2020, we see that - give it 1-3 years - and you often swing into a very wet pattern," Blumenfeld said.
He points to prolonged droughts in the 1940's, 60's, 70's and late 80's, which were all followed by big peaks in annual precipitation shortly after. In addition to those trends, he says all you have to do is look at the overall trend of global warming to see how much more moisture has been in the atmosphere.
"Over time, the wet patterns have been getting wetter, and the dry patterns have been getting wetter," Blumenfeld said. "And when we look at it from the historical perspective, the 2020's — so far — have been the wettest dry period on record."
If that seems confusing, he says just think back to the winter of 2022-2023, when several areas of the state set snowfall records.
"That was sandwiched between two major drought episodes and that's kind of what's been happening overall," Blumenfeld said. "We've had these really dry summers and then we'd have these extremely wet cold seasons. Now we're going to see what happens when you have not just a wet cold season but also at least part of the warm season very wet."
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