Moderate drought conditions in Wisconsin, 66% of state affected

2021 was no stranger to drought and 2022 is starting off the same way. As of Thursday, Feb. 10 just about two-thirds of Wisconsin is experiencing moderate drought.

Two thirds of Wisconsin is experiencing moderate drought as of February 10. Severe drought still present in Racine and Kenosha Counties. 

Nearly 90% of the state is considered abnormally dry which is actually an improvement from three months ago, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. 

The most troubling areas of severe drought persist in Racine and Kenosha County. Another large pocket just north of Madison has much of the Baraboo hills feeding into the Wisconsin River well below average for precipitation. 

2022 of to a bad start in terms of precip for Milwaukee

Milwaukee has gone back and forth between moderate and abnormally dry conditions for the last year. So far in 2022, we've barely seen an inch of liquid water equivalent. So far this winter we're over 16" below average when it comes to snow. 

The silver lining is January and February are usually our driest months. Cold and dry air through the end of winter are dwarfed by spring averages of rain. At this point, our deficit in 2022 could be quickly made up, but the soil moisture as a whole will take much more time to recover.