Thirsty Soils in Western North Dakota

Going into winter, NDSU Extension State Climatologist Adnan Akyuz says western and northwest North Dakota have missed out on some of the fall rains. “The soil is very thirsty. In this case, any rainfall is infiltrating into the soil which is still great, but it makes itself more vulnerable for evaporation and as the air temperatures have been warmer than usual this fall, it’s taken no time to evaporate,” says Akyuz. “Unfortunately, the rain falling in northwestern North Dakota hasn’t been as much as the eastern part of the state. Western North Dakota is still suffering.”