North Dakota Now Officially A Drought Disaster.

Usually when I check the weekend weather forecast, I'm hoping for sunny and mild. These days I'm praying for sleet, rain, snow, drizzle, or any type of precipitation nature wants to throw our way. So which day's forecast makes me happiest on a Friday?

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 70. West wind 5 to 14 mph becoming south in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.

Sunday

A 40 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Sure it's pretty darn nice on Saturday, but Sunday could be something special. So maybe golf on Saturday, and hopefully it rains all day Sunday and I just watch day four of The Masters. That would be awesome, but probably overly optimistic. Other than a bit of snow a few Saturdays back, about the only precipitation we've gotten is early morning fog.

According to the Governors disaster declaration, over 70% of the state is in extreme drought while nearly 24% of the state classified as severe drought.

Burgum's declaration said the period from September 2020 to February 2021 exceeded the driest six-month period on record since 1895 in the state.

Time then for the state to reactivate the Drought Disaster Livestock Water Supply Project Assistance Program. The title is pretty self explanatory, but it allows eligible livestock producers the opportunity to get a 50% cost share from the state on water projects for their operation. You can get all the details on the State Water Commission's website. www.swc.nd.gov/

The declaration also activates an emergency operations plan that coordinates a number of government entities including the North Dakota National Guard. Firefighters continue to battle wildfires all across the state. The number of which is growing at an amazing rate. This from AP News..

Overall, documented wildfires in North Dakota increased over the past week from 139 to 194, according to Beth Hill, acting outreach and education manager for the North Dakota Forest Service.

So let's hold on to hope for showers on Sunday. A foot of snow would be just fine.