Minnesota WeatherTalk

High Winds and Heavy Rains on October 21st: A strong, slow-moving low-pressure system brought high winds and heavy rains to many parts of Minnesota on October 21st. Many areas of the state reported over an inch of rainfall that day, and over 20 climate stations reported more than 2 inches. In fact, many Minnesota climate stations reported new record daily precipitation amounts. Among those setting records were: Sandstone with 2.75” Isle with 2.41” Mora and Cloquet with 2.26” Leech Lake with 2.23” Floodwood with 2.08” Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center with 2.03” Walker with 2.02” Marshall 1.84” Scores of other climate stations set records as well. In addition to the rain, there were persistently strong winds. Many areas reported wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph, especially in northeastern Minnesota, where the high winds produced large waves on Lake Superior and a good deal of shoreline erosion. Access to Park Point in Duluth was limited to only emergency vehicles for a ...

Wet October Amplifies: Hard to believe but Austin, Wells, Grand Meadow, and Two Harbors climate stations have reported over 5 inches of precipitation so far this month, just past half way. Another 50 climate stations have reported over 4 inches for the month so far. October is the 7th month of 2019 that is wetter than normal on a statewide basis. Portions of Dodge, Steele, and Olmsted Counties have already reported over 50 inches of precipitation for the year so far. On a statewide basis January 1 to October 16 period is the wettest since statehood in 1858. This wet pattern shows no sign of abating. During the big storm of last weekend, which hit the Dakotas worse than Minnesota, portions of northern Minnesota reported some significant snowfall amounts. Many areas received between 3 and 9 inches, while Battle Lake (Otter Tail County) reported 13 inches of snow on October 13th setting a new all-time state record for that date (surpassing the 7 inches that Baudette received on Oc...

First Autumn Rain/Snow Mix With a Winter Storm: October 10-11 brought the first seasonal mixture of rain and snow to many parts of Minnesota. Most of the snow was reported in northwestern counties, which were under a Winter Storm Watch Thursday night. Some areas of the Red River Valley were expected to get 4 to 8 inches of snowfall by Saturday, along with winds over 40 mph. Rain fell across much of the rest of the state (in some areas more than one inch) pushing monthly totals past 4 inches at over two dozen climate stations in Minnesota. Early Look at Change in Climate "Normals" By the end of 2020 we will complete climate record keeping for the second complete decade of the new millennium. By international agreement all of the government weather services will calculate new climate “normals” for locations that have measured daily climate histories. We know already for Minnesota that the climate trends of the past decade have been upward (positive) with respect to bo...

Wet Start to October No Surprise: Normal October precipitation around Minnesota ranges from 2 to 2.5 inches most places. Already over the first few days of the month many of our climate observers in the state report 1.5 to 3.0 inches of rainfall, topped by Grand Meadow (Mower County) with 3.91 inches. Portions of Itasca and St Louis County (Orr) have reported 1 to 1.5 inches of snow already this month, while other places in northeastern Minnesota have reported a trace. Temperatures over the first few days are running about 3 to 7 degrees F cooler than normal. For the year to date, over 30 climate stations have reported more than 40 inches of precipitation. The community of Rochester (Olmsted County) has recorded their wettest year in history (over 19 inches wetter than normal so far), while many other climate stations are on a pace to do so. Some of the cause for all the surplus precipitation this year stems from a larger number of intense thunderstorms that delivered 2 or more ...