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900–1,500 ft · MN🚗 Directions
Central Minnesota transition zone between prairie and northern hardwoods. Aspen, oak, and elm in river corridors and state forests. Mille Lacs area, Crow Wing SF, and Mississippi headwaters region. Among the latest morel seasons in the Midwest.
Updated Aug 27, 4:12 AM MT
**Central MN Tier A – August 27, 2026** You're sitting on a technical Tier A with a paradox: 96 viable species listed, but soil VWC at 0.05 is bone-dry and stalled at that level for a week. The Tier rating holds because the region *should* be flush with late-summer fruiting—woody polypores, sapropels, fall Amanitas—and the 14-day rain history (0.77") shows it's not chronically parched. The real limiting factor is the last 7 days of near-zero precipitation (0.03"), which has suppressed fruit initiation even as substrate remains colonized and ready. Target the drought-tolerant woody species (Chicken, Hen, Turkey Tail, Artist's Conk, perennial polypores) in shaded, north-facing ravines where soil moisture lingers. Avoid the fairy-ring and meadow groups until you see measurable rain. Watch the forecast hard—if a decent system rolls through in the next 48–72 hours, this region will spike dramatically; if it stays dry, you're harvesting stored fruiting bodies, not fresh flushes. **Hot tip:** Scout north-facing oak and aspen zones near water features (stream seeps, spring heads) where capillary moisture persists despite the surface dry-down; that's where your Hen of the Woods and Birch Boletes will be hiding.
Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.
Precip 7d
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⚠ Road Access Notice
Always verify road access is public before following GPS directions to mountain areas. Many forest roads are seasonal, gated, or require 4WD. Dispersed camping follows USFS/BLM rules (typically 14-day limit). Check ranger district offices for current road and campground conditions.
0.03"
PRISM 4km · thru 08-25
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-08-25. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.0.77"
PRISM 4km · thru 08-25
Soil Temp
68°F
SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — how much water is in the snowpack vs. normal. Declining SWE means snowmelt is adding moisture to the soil.0%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
complete
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
moisture marginal (today 0.05 VWC, 7d avg 0.06 — sustained dry)
Primordia readiness: Cold = mycelium dormant. Activating = soil warming, primordia building. Primed = 5+ sustained warm days at species threshold; fruiting imminent if moisture cooperates. Based on Schmidt 1983 / Mihail 2007.