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HydroClitn Minnesota - February 2013 <br /> hydroclim-minnesota: HydroClim Minnesota Monthly Newsletter [HYDROCLIM- <br /> MINNESOTA@LISTS.UMN.EDU] on behalf of Greg Spoden [gspoden @umn.edu] <br /> Sent:Thursday, February 07,2013 9:15 AM <br /> To: HYDROCLIM-MINNESOTA©LISTS.UMN.EDU <br /> HydroClim Minnesota subscribers, <br /> The February 2013 edition of"HydroClim Minnesota", a monthly electronic newsletter summarizing <br /> Minnesota's climate conditions and the resulting impact on water resources, is posted at: <br /> http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/hc1302.htm <br /> Highlights: <br /> - January precipitation totals were above historical averages across north central and northeast <br /> Minnesota. Monthly precipitation totals were below average in southwest and south central counties. <br /> Elsewhere, January precipitation was near the long-term average. <br /> For large portions of Minnesota, August 2012-through-January 2013 precipitation totals ranked below <br /> the 5th percentile historically. In southwest and south central Minnesota,June 2012-January 2013 <br /> precipitation totals were more than 10 inches below the historical average <br /> Snow depths vary widely across Minnesota. Many locations in west central Minnesota, north central <br /> Minnesota, ;nc in the Lake Superior highlands report more than 12 inches of snow cover. Whereas. the <br /> c, landscape in far southwest and south central Minnesota is nearly snow-free. For mosi of the rest of <br /> Minnesota, snow depths range from four to eight inches. <br /> - The U. S. Drought Monitor, released on February 7, continues to place large portions Minnesota in the <br /> Extreme Drought category. In total, 84% of Minnesota's landscape'is considered to be in Extreme <br /> Drought or Severe Drought. <br /> - The drought situation will likely remain unchanged until spring because the deeply frozen soil assures <br /> that very little winter precipitation will make it into the ground. As of late autumn, the soil moisture <br /> content in the plant rooting zone was near all-time low levels at many locations. Without abundant <br /> spring rains, a number of critical drought issues involving agriculture, forestry, horticulture, tourism, <br /> and public water supply will begin to emerge. <br /> Please feel free to phone or email with questions or comments concerning this product. <br /> Greg Spoden <br /> State Climatologist <br /> Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - Division of Ecological and Water Resources <br /> 439 Borlaug Hall, University of Minnesota <br /> 1991 Upper Buford Circle <br />