Drizzle does little to relieve drought.
While rain and drizzle put a damper on the Bismarck Marathon and the 44th annual Downtowners Street Fair, the .65 inch that fell over a three-day period last week did little to close the gap between the average precipitation and actual rainfall.
There remains a more than 2-inch difference between the two figures, according to the Weather Underground.
As of Saturday, actual precipitation for the year was 12.36 inches.
Average precipitation at this time of year is 14.76 inches.
Ninety-eight percent of North Dakota remains in abnormally dry conditions, with the worst of the drought lingering on the western side of the state.
Conditions of severe drought or worse are still gripping that half of North Dakota, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor in data released Thursday.
Drought has a tight hold in Montana as well, where the entire state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions with nearly 26 percent of the state in exceptional drought, the worst category possible.
Massive wildfires there are leading to air-quality concerns.