Despite the Rain, Wisconsin's Drought Could Get Worse Before It Gets Better

Although the last few days brought some much-needed rain to southern Wisconsin, climatologists warn it’s not enough to quench the drought affecting much of the Midwest.

And things could get worse before they get better, said Dennis Todey, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub, who predicts conditions will stay mostly dry for the next few weeks and into early July. One quarter of Wisconsin, including Madison, is classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as being in a “moderate drought,” while other parts of the state are considered “abnormally dry.”

“I think we’re going to continue to be sort of on the touch-and-go side of things,” Todey said. “We will continue to have some of these smaller-scale isolated storms that do drop rain in areas, but everyone may not be getting those.”

Although conditions in the state are nowhere near extreme or severe drought levels, interim state climatologist Steve Vavrus said conditions are still dry.

Sunday’s rain amounted to just 0.12 inches around some parts of Madison, according to the National Weather Service. May 2023 was the fourth driest on record in the state, Vavrus said.

Wisconsin saw about one-half inch to an inch of rain in the eastern third of the state Tuesday. Those areas, which were east of and including Madison, “will definitely see a benefit for now,” Vavrus said.

But the western side of the state did not see much rain, if any, and the state is projected to be fairly dry for the next seven to 10 days, Vavrus said. June is normally the wettest month in Wisconsin and combined with May accounts for about 25% of the state’s annual rainfall. Since May 1, the state has received just 40% of the amount of rain it usually would during that time frame.

The dry conditions also stand in stark contrast with the wet and rainy season this spring. And the 2010s was the wettest decade on record in Wisconsin.

“We’ve had wetter springs, where agricultural people have had problems getting in fields. We’ve had flooding and that sort of thing,” Todey said. “So the very dry conditions are a hard difference from what we’ve seen before.”

Source: chippewa.com