Submitted Photo The portion of North Dakota considered to be in “extreme” drought increased greatly this past week, with 41 counties all or partially included in the extreme drought category. That is an increase from 28 counties one week ago.

More and more state residents, from the city to the country, are keeping a watchful eye on the sky and closely monitoring weather forecasts for any indication of rain. As temperatures continue to warm and producers begin preparation for spring planting, drought conditions are approaching historic proportions.

The U.S. Drought Monitor issued its weekly summary Thursday and it wasn’t good new for a dry state. The area of “extreme” drought in North Dakota has been expanding like the wildfires it spawns, increasing by more than 13%. Forty-one of the state’s 53 counties are now completely or partially rated as being in extreme drought on the Drought Monitor’s D1-D4 scale, an increase of 13 counties from a week ago.

The western two-thirds of the state, Ward County included, is extremely dry as evidenced by recent wildfires fueled by tinder-dry grasses, shrubs and trees. Coupled with frequent high winds, fires have been exploding across the landscape. Conditions are so dire that only Griggs County on the eastern side of the state has not enacted a burn ban.

In Thursday’s issuance of the Drought Monitor it was noted that temperatures in “Nebraska and the Dakotas reached the upper 70’s to mid-80’s” and that “combined with low relative humidity and gusty winds” increased fire danger across the region.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that, as of April 4, “92% of North Dakota’s topsoil” was rated short to very short of moisture and “significantly less than what is required for normal crop growth development.”

Lake Darling, an impoundment on the Souris River northwest of Minot, was more than 18 inches below normal for this time of year on Thursday with virtually zero inflow. At the gauge on the Souris River near Sherwood, Lake Darling’s primary source of water, registered a mere 14.9 cubic feet per second Thursday versus the average for the date of 599 cfs. Accordingly, the release gates at Lake Darling remain closed.

The Souris River Basin is not alone in low flows. Streamflow throughout the state is very minimal. No flow was recorded Thursday in Long Creek near Noonan. Normal for the date is 237 cfs. The Des Lacs River at Foxholm was barely moving at 3.21 cfs as compared to an average for the date of 135 cfs. Willow Creek near Willow City was virtually still Thursday at 1.44 cfs with a long-term average of 254 cfs.

Elsewhere in the state the Pembina River at Walhalla was moving at 16.9 cfs compared to a 1,040 cfs average. The Knife River at Beulah was at 33.3 cfs with an average of 1,080 and the Little Missouri River at Medora, where a large wildfire burned recently, a mere 25.4 cfs of flow was record as compared to the average for the date of 1,240 cfs.

Rainfall totals at various points in the state are equally telling. While 0.83 inch of precipitation for the year has been recorded at the North Central Research Extension Center south of Minot, a paltry 0.22 fell at the Minot Airport, almost two inches below normal.

Other precipitation totals for the year include 0.03 inch at Dickinson, 0.07 inch at Hettinger, 0.39 inch at Jamestown, 0.49 inch at Bismarck, and 0.68 inch at both Garrison and Williston.

The current dryness is drawing comparisons to the Dust Bowl era of the “Dirty30’s” when dry conditions prevailed over a wide section of the Great Plains. In 1934-35, the third driest year of the 1930’s for the Minot region, 2.27 inches of precipitation was recorded from October, 1934 through March, 1935. Minot’s total for the same six month period in 2020-21 is 1.67 inches, or 0.60 inch less than the historically dry period experienced in 1934-45.

A long-time National Weather Service co-op observer near Grassy Butte calls this season the worst he’s ever experienced, including the dry season of 1987-88 when only 2.42 inches of rain fell during a seven-month period. During the last seven months at the same location, through March, only 1.28 inches was recorded and, concludes the observer, “there is almost no water to be found in western Dakota.”

Any relief from drought conditions doesn’t appear to be imminent. The NWS 6-10 day outlook all the way through April 21 calls for below to well-below normal precipitation for North Dakota.