November 1999 in St. Cloud was also an extremely dry month. Only 0.20 inches of precipitation fell, more than an inch below normal. November 1999 tied with 1980 as the 11th driest November in the 105 years of St. Cloud precipitation records. In addition, the 1.1 inches of snow was the lowest November snowfall since 1980. The warm and dry conditions during this November contributed to a mild and dry fall, but not as warm as last year.
More rainfall goes into ground water during the fall than during any other season.
So, the dry fall, while not long enough to be considered a drought, could lead to some serious water problems in the spring if we don't get some heavy rains after the ground thaws. The problems could even be more acute in the pockets of western and central Minnesota which missed much of the thunderstorm activity during the middle and late summer. The low amount of snowfall in November could give us some clues about how much snowfall is likely during the winter of 1999-2000. There have been only 19 seasons in St. Cloud with less than 2 inches of snowfall through the end of November. While 19 winters don't cover all possibilities, it does provide some statistical evidence for a relatively snowless winter.