VERMILLION - With a few exceptions, most of the state got
adequate moisture this spring, according to Dennis Todey, South
Dakota's state climatologist.
Enough rain fell in South Dakota's eastern counties to end
drought conditions, he said.
"This rainfall has been a real boost in the central third of
the state, and up in the northwest corner of the state, where we
were the worst-hit areas last year, where we have really improved
things a great deal," he said. "The only place that has kind of
missed out on things has been the southwestern corner of the
state."
Storms in early May included some tornadoes and heavy rain.
Brown County and Aberdeen were especially hard hit by flooding
after getting nearly 8 inches of rain. Almost 3 inches fell during
one hour the evening of May 5 in Aberdeen.
The state's third-largest city has had 20.8 inches of moisture
since Jan. 1, already more than it usually gets in a full year and
the most moisture through the first two weeks of June since
1896.
Fall River, Custer, Shannon and Pennington counties could use
more rain for range and pasture and to refill stock dams and
reservoirs as summer officially begins Thursday, Todey said.
Even with a somewhat rainy spring, some areas of the west
still could use more moisture, he added.
It's difficult to predict the state's weather for the summer,
he said.
But South Dakota could be slightly warmer if a La Nina weather
pattern forms in the Pacific Ocean, according to the
climatologist.
"If we were to get into a La Nina, our risk of being warmer
and drier would increase. Right now, we're kind of heading that
direction, but we're still not there," Todey said. "So it's not
looking very likely we'll get into La Nina by the end of the
summer."
