Drought Hits WI, But Weekend Could Bring 'Much Needed' Rain: NWS

WISCONSIN — As Wisconsin enjoys warmer weather this June, residents in most areas are also noticing a lack of rain. Much of the state was experiencing abnormally dry conditions or under moderate drought by Wednesday.

In Wisconsin, conditions are considered abnormally dry when planting is slowed alongside growth. When it comes to moderate drought, there may be some damage to crops and pastures while streams and reservoirs may get lower and some voluntary water use restrictions are requested. The entirety of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties were under a moderate drought as of Friday.

The dry conditions come after the DNR battled around 60 wildfires in April amid a high wildfire risk in Wisconsin. At the same time, a 3,000-acre wildfire burned in Monroe County. The drought conditions also come just as residents are prepping for fireworks season, which could bring a new risk of fires to the state with continued dry weather.

See also: 4th of July 2023 Fireworks Laws: What's Legal Around Wisconsin?

The warm and dry conditions could last for much of the day into Saturday, but fortunately, a front is expected to push through bringing much-needed rain by Saturday evening and into Sunday, according to a tweet by The National Weather Service in Milwaukee/Sullivan.

Amid the dryer weather, Milwaukee's Kellner Greenhouse Owner Casey Dembowiak talked watering priorities with Spectrum 1 News. So what to do about your grass?

"It'll be just fine," he told the news outlet, calling lawns resilient.

Dembowiak suggested people pay extra attention to their other plants and to enjoy the summer heat. He also told the news outlet some extra lawn watering won't hurt if you don't mind the higher water bill.

Information from the National Integrated Drought Information System and Drought Monitor on Friday noted that 3.1 million Wisconsinites were in the area of drought, an 18,000 percent increase since last week after the 4th driest May on record since 1895.

Drought in the Midwest varies from other regions, according to the NIDIS webpage. For our region, precipitation extremes impact resources, the economy and residents. Trends over the past century have been moving toward wetter conditions for the Midwest and fewer droughts, NIDIS wrote, though recent droughts have caused issues for river transportation with barges.