When you think of dry summers in the Red River Valley, the years 1936, 1976, 1988 and 1989 usually come to mind. How is 2006 fairing in comparison to those years?
Below you will find the total rainfall in Fargo/Moorhead for June though July 15th (approxiate half-ways point of summer) for each year:
1936: 0.50″
2006: 1.34″
1989: 1.55″
1988: 1.68″
1976: 2.95″
So this year hasn’t been a record, but it certainly ranks right up there as one of the driest starts of a summer in the past 100 years. All the years listed ended up dry, only time will tell if the summer of 2006 will finish as dry as it has started.
Maybe this dry spell will be good in waking Fargo residents up. When our tapwater source dries up, then what do we do? Will we bring water into Fargo in trucks? Eventually, history will repeat and we will be able to walk across the dry Red River. Infrastructure that will solve Fargo’s water supply issues during dry spells will take years to bring on line if we start now. Do we want to be known as the “New Orleans of the North” due to inaction?
Well, it appears the very dry spell has helped to account for the sparse soil moisture measures across much of the Upper Midwest. And with dry soils any type of warm air mass will only be allowed to maximize its effects over a given region if soil/ground is dry. Typically, a wet soil will temper extreme temps due to solar energy used for evaporation rather than straight heating of the lower levels of the atmosphere. And, voila! Look at our string of hot temps the past few days (same can be said for areas southward to Texas due to prolonged drought over the Plains region).
To call Fargo the New Orleans of the North is a bit harsh and extreme — no city can come close to their squandering of ideas and monies! It will be interesting to see what type of precip regime the Upper Midwest falls under for the rest of July through August.