Rain and Drought

This is a portion of an article from the Iron Mountain Daily News...

IRON MOUNTAIN - The forecast calls for showers or thunderstorms, off and on, through the weekend.

We do still need the rain.

Despite a wet June, the western Upper Peninsula is the worst drought-stricken region in the nation.
"The total precipitation deficit at Iron Mountain from July 2008 through May 2010 was almost 18 inches," said Kevin Crupi, National Weather Service meteorologist at Marquette.

The months of January through May were the driest on record at Iron Mountain-Kingsford, following dry summers in both 2008 and 2009.

The U.S. Drought Monitor reports extreme drought over most of the western Upper Peninsula, including all of Dickinson and Iron counties and the northern half of Menominee. The extreme drought extends into bordering Wisconsin counties, including all of Florence, Forest and Vilas and the northern half of Marinette.

It is the only region of extreme drought in the continental U.S.