MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — Cool temperatures and steady rainfall were not enough to beat back the drought over the past week.
Davison, Hanson, and McCook Counties all saw slight upticks in extreme drought. Davison inched up from 26.82% to 28.08%. Hanson is the worst hit of the three, going from 37.53% to 41.72%. McCook had no extreme drought a week ago. It’s now at 2.44%, all in the extreme southwest corner. What isn’t in extreme drought is in the severe stage instead.
Extreme drought is the third tier on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s four-level scale. It is typically the stage where burn bans begin, early cattle sales increase because it is hard to provide enough feed to livestock, crop loss becomes significant, and rivers start to run low with small lakes and creeks drying up entirely.
The forecast for the next week is extremely hot, with actual temperatures expected to reach the upper 90s. Rain is a possibility starting from Thursday night through Saturday night, but the best chances are to the west and north of the Mitchell area. Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming all are more likely to get hit with storms. The region stretching from Pierre towards Aberdeen in South Dakota will likely see drops falling from the sky.