Less than 1 inch of rain reported across Cook County in September, moderate drought conditions continue

September has been a particularly dry month in Cook County and areas across northern Minnesota. 

Given the minimal precipitation, the North Shore, stretching from Duluth to the Canadian border, is designated as experiencing moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. A large swath of central and southern Minn. is considered abnormally dry. 

With only a few days remaining in Sept., many meteorologists and Cook County weather observers are tallying the scarce precipitation data. 

“There is not a single observing station in Cook County that has seen over an inch of rain yet this month,” said Ketzel Levens, a Duluth-based National Weather Service meteorologist. 

Levens said that since Sept. 1, the highest amount of precipitation reported by Cook County weather stations has been 0.6 inches. She said normal precipitation in Sept. is typically 2 to 2.5 inches of rain. “So we’re running well below normal right now.”

With minimal precipitation, Levens said that many Cook County weather stations will experience the top 10 driest September, with the potential for some stations to set records. 

WTIP’s weather reporter and avid listener, Mary Brislance, has documented 0.3 inches of rain in Sept. at her home in Lutsen. “And it does not look like any for the rest of the month,” she said. 

In addition to the minimal rain in Sept., temperatures have been abnormally high. “Here in Duluth, we’re currently number one for warmest average temperature for September.”

Farther up the shore in Cook County, temperatures have remained in the 60 to 70-degree range for weeks. Levens says she expects Cook County to set some historical records or come close. 

WTIP’s CJ Heithoff spoke with Ketzel Levens, a Duluth-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service, about the dry September conditions. The audio from the interview is below. 

Kalli Hawkins September 27, 2024