The drought that gripped Minnesota for most of the spring and summer is all but gone in the region and across most of the state.
Several widespread rains in October and rains early this week, left the region with either no drought or with conditions that are only “abnormally dry.”
The Drought Monitor map, released Thursday, has data that runs through Tuesday, so the Sunday and Christmas Day rains were included.
With little or no frost in the ground in Southern Minnesota, rains are able to seep down into the soil.
Compared to the map from a week ago, a much larger area is now showing no drought has spread down the Minnesota River Valley, reaching almost to St. Peter.
Most of the rest of the region, including Martin and Blue Earth counties, are listed only as “abnormally dry,” while Faribault County remains in a moderate drought.
The only places that still have some “severe drought” are in an area in the far north central part of the state and a sliver of the far southeast at the Iowa border.