page_title: Climate of Minnesota
section_title: Droughts
hierarchical_section_title: Climate of Minnesota / Seasons / Summer / Precipitation / Droughts
context_page_description: Minnesota has a humid continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Minnesota's location in the Upper Midwest allows it to experience some of the widest variety of weather in the United States, with each of the four seasons having its own distinct characteristics. The area near Lake Superior in the Minnesota Arrowhead region experiences weather unique from the rest of the state. The moderating effect of Lake Superior keeps the surrounding area relatively cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, giving that region a smaller yearly temperature range. On the Köppen climate classification, much of the southern third of Minnesota—roughly from the Twin Cities region southward—falls in the hot summer zone, and the northern two-thirds of Minnesota falls in the warm summer zone.
  Winter in Minnesota is characterized by cold temperatures. Snow is the main form of winter precipitation, but freezing rain, sleet, and occasionally rain are all possible during the winter months. Common storm systems include Alberta clippers or Panhandle hooks; some of which develop into blizzards.
context_section_description: Droughts are an annual summer concern in Minnesota, especially for farmers.  The growing season (which varies from 90 days per year in the Iron Range to 160 days in southeast Minnesota) is when Minnesota averages its highest percentage of annual precipitation, so a lack of rainfall during this time period can be devastating to crops.  The last major drought in Minnesota was in 1988.  During that year, the period of April to July was the second-driest in the previous century, and the period of May to August was the hottest on record.  The combination of dry skies and heat caused a severe drought which cost the state approximately 1.2 billion dollars in crop losses.
  Other memorable drought years were 1976 and the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. During the dust bowl, inappropriate farming techniques enhanced by years of drought conditions led to dust storms in Southern Minnesota and the other parts of the Midwest. Drought conditions also have helped spawn forest fires.  In 1894 the Great Hinckley Fire destroyed Hinckley killing an estimated 459 people, and in 1918 a forest fire killed 453 people in the vicinity of Cloquet. More recently, in 2006, the Cavity Lake Fire burned 31,830 acres (129 km²) in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
caption: Southern Minnesota is located on the edge of Tornado Alley