Submitted Photo The brown area on this map indicates several counties in North Dakota considered to be in moderate drought. The yellow area is abnormally dry according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The map was issued May 19.

It is too early in the summer season to draw any conclusions, but there is growing concern about dry conditions over much of western North Dakota. A dozen counties in the southwestern part of the state, primarily west of the Missouri River, already are considered by the U.S. Drought Monitor to be in moderate drought.

All of Ward County was listed as “abnormally dry” in the Drought Monitor’s most recent national assessment issued this past Thursday. Since that issuance the Minot area has received some rainfall, but much less than what was in the forecast issued prior to the Memorial Day weekend.

About a half inch of rain fell throughout most of the region this past weekend. Although the moisture was welcome, the reality is it will not greatly impact overall soil moisture conditions and still leaves the region woefully short of rainfall for the year to date.

For May, according to records kept at the North Central Research and Extension Center south of Minot, 1.37 inches of rain has fallen at that location. The year-to-date total is 3.35 inches, or 2.14 inches below the long term average. The Minot International Airport reports yearly precipitation totals to be 2.65 inches below normal. The numbers include rain that fell this past weekend.

While those numbers are starting to draw some attention from growers and other interests in the region, by comparison, they are much better than a broad area of the southwest portion of the state.

Precipitation for the year thus far as recorded at Bismarck is a mere 1.85 inches. That compares to a long-term average of 5.02 inches, or 3.08 inches below normal. The lowest precipitation total on record for Bismarck at this time of year is 1.13 inches, in 1934.

Closer to Minot, at Turtle Lake to the southeast, lack of rainfall is a growing concern too. That community has recorded only 1.84 inches of precipitation thus far in 2020, comparable to the 1.41 inch mark set in the “Dirty 30’s” year of 1934.

There doesn’t appear to be much relief in sight either, at least for the next 6-10 days. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures throughout the period are expected to be well above normal and precipitation well below normal. A few scattered showers are possible in small regions of the state but no significant or widespread rainfall is anticipated.

Minot’s forecast through next Monday calls for daytime high temperatures ranging from 75 to 88 degrees with no chance of rain. Hot and dry conditions, with temperatures in the mid- to upper 80’s, are expected to continue through the first week of June. If that outlook proves true it will likely result in further aggravating dry soil conditions and raise the level of concern for growers over a wide area of North Dakota.