Wet start to week is anomaly in otherwise drought-like summer so far
Jul. 6—MANKATO — Despite rainfall on Monday and Tuesday, Mankato is still well below average for precipitation this summer.
June is typically Mankato's rainiest month, averaging about 5.6 inches on average since 1991. June 2022 finished with only 0.79 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service data.
Driven by that arid June, Mankato's 7.85 inches of precipitation between April 1 and Monday was about 5.9 inches below the 30-year average.
The conditions have been dry enough to put all of Blue Earth County in "abnormally dry" condition range on the U.S. Drought Monitor Map. A couple more weeks of warm, dry weather would push the area deeper into drought conditions, said Michelle Margraf, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"For July it's doing OK these first days of the month," she said. "If we start getting into a drier pattern sustained for a couple weeks, that could impact it, especially if we stay warm."
As noted by Margraf, July is making up some ground on the rain front. The 0.83 inches of precipitation in the Mankato area through this month's first four days topped June's monthlong total — Tuesday evening's stormy conditions added to the month's rainfall tally.
Another dry start to the summer puts a strain on farmers and gardeners, as less rainfall means more maintenance is needed to keep plants on a healthy growth curve. So when Abbey Dickhudt, manager of the Blue Earth County Community Farm, saw rain in the forecast this week, she welcomed it.
"I think the rain does a much better job watering than I ever could," she said with a laugh. "So I would say I just get relief from it."
The community farm on Indian Lake Road grows fresh produce for local hunger assistance programs. A drip-tape irrigation system slowly releases water onto crops over a couple hours, helping volunteers tend the plants, but some portions like the patch of herbs need to be hand-watered.
Without the new drip-tape system, watering everything would be a time-consuming task.
"It would just be a lot more hours," Dickhudt said. "A lot of the dryness has led to more hands-on time checking on that, but we're pretty fortunate to have abundant water."
With more maintenance expected this season, more volunteers would prove helpful in harvesting and packaging the crops for local nonprofits. People interested in volunteering can check out the farm's Facebook page for updates on what's needed, said Dickhudt. She anticipated the need for help to grow later in July.
Plants in the ground have it a little easier than their potted relatives. Potted plants need to be watered more often, said Jacqueline Karsten, marketing coordinator at Drummers Garden and Floral.
Signs of stress on plants during drought conditions include leaf discoloration and wilting. You don't necessarily need to water plants every day to make up for it, Karsten said, as thorough, deep watering should be the goal.
If grass is brown, it's likely dormant rather than dead. Water grass once every two to three weeks to keep it alive or once or twice a week to keep it green, while always being mindful of how valuable water is as a resource by not wasting too much of it.
Some plant life is more resilient than others. Karsten said native perennials can do alright in drought conditions due to their long tap roots, and most trees are fairly resilient against dry stretches once established.
Scattered precipitation looks to be in the cards the rest of this week, followed by a likely return to drier forecasts next week. Forecasting precipitation gets tricky once you get past a week or so, Margraf said, but any further combination of warm weather and low precipitation would only plunge Mankato further into drought conditions.
Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola
