South Dakota Rains Spark Optimism

The latest drought monitor shows little change in moisture levels for South Dakota. A week ago, portions of the southeast corner of the state returned to normal levels.

In addition, the heavy rain that occurred in the Yankton area on June 15 produced a lot of runoff. The official reporting site recorded 1.77 inches of rain with other locations surrounding Yankton reporting near 3 inches. Most likely the soil did not get recharged with the dousing that occurred.

The interesting twist is that if you look at one year ago, the map is almost identical. However, after what transpired over that 364 day span to have nearly the same snapshot is remarkable.