ST. PAUL, Minn. – Last week’s winter snowstorm could help alleviate the drought that’s been a problem for Minnesota agriculture. But maybe not. State climatologist Luigi Romolo said many variables need to play out for the 2023 crops season:
> Existing soil moisture.
> Depth of frost in ground.
> Precipitation and temperatures.
> Snow accumulation and melt
Romolo noted that snow acumulations from the latest storm were uneven, ranging, for example, from three to 14 inches in southern Minnesota. “If te snow melts slowly, the soil will better be able to absorb it, which is ideal for spring farming,” Romolo said in a KAAL interview.
Verbatim
Romolo: “Sometimes when you get heavy snowfalls in the early part in January, which is what we got, it suppresses the frost from getting really deep. It really depends on the timing of the snowmelt and we could even see a little bit of spring flooding with this much snow on the ground. That’s always an issue in spring whenever we get snowfalls like this adding onto what we have, the risk increases slightly.”
Romolo. State climatoogist.