|
Wet August and Wet Summer 2002
A statement regarding the heavy rainfall of this past summer was issued by the National Weather Service on September 25, 2002. Listed below are some statistics on the August rains and some comments on the wet summer of 2002. HEAVY RAINFALL WAS THE THEME FOR AUGUST 2002. MOST LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA REPORTED ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH. THE STATEWIDE AVERAGE WAS 5.74 INCHES, RANKING AS THE 6TH WETTEST AUGUST OVERALL. MANY LOCATIONS REPORTED RECORD OR NEAR RECORD RAINFALL TOTALS, INCLUDING... SPRINGFIELD 8.97 INCHES (NEW AUGUST RECORD) NORTHFIELD 8.85 INCHES (NEW AUGUST RECORD) MONTEVIDEO 9.08 INCHES (2ND WETTEST AUGUST) HASTINGS 8.57 INCHES (3RD WETTEST AUGUST) JORDAN 9.98 INCHES (2ND WETTEST AUGUST) LITCHFIELD 9.68 INCHES (2ND WETTEST AUGUST) TWIN CITIES 8.23 INCHES (3RD WETTEST AUGUST) MOST OF THE LARGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE DUE TO INTENSE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORM EVENTS, MOST NOTABLY ON THE 3RD-4TH, 6TH-7TH, 20TH-21ST AND 27TH-28TH. SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL DAILY RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE RECORD- SETTING AS WELL. SOME OF THESE INCLUDED... 6.30 INCHES AT MONTEVIDEO ON THE 3RD 5.20 INCHES AT LITCHFIELD ON THE 21ST 4.70 INCHES AT MADISON ON THE 21ST 4.30 INCHES AT DAWSON ON THE 21ST MANY OF THESE EVENTS CAUSED FLASH FLOODING PROBLEMS SUCH AS WASHED OUT ROADS AND WATER IN BASEMENTS. IT IS INTERESTING, HOWEVER, TO NOTE THAT FLOODING ON MAJOR RIVERS AND STREAMS (EXCEPT FOR THE SOUTH FORK OF THE CROW RIVER AT DELANO) DID NOT OCCUR. THIS IS PRIMARILY DUE TO THE SPACING OF THE RAINFALL EVENTS. ALTHOUGH THE RAINS WERE HEAVY AT TIMES AND SOME OCCURRED OVER LARGE AREAS, THE RAINS GENERALLY DID NOT OCCUR REPEATEDLY, OVER THE SAME AREA. IN THOSE INSTANCES WHERE RAINFALL EVENTS DID OCCUR OVER THE SAME AREA, THERE WAS ADEQUATE TIME BETWEEN EVENTS TO ALLOW THE WATER TO RECEDE FROM THE FIRST EVENT AND THE SECOND EVENT WAS INSUFFICIENT TO CAUSE FLOODING. THE ABUNDANT RAINFALL IN AUGUST FOLLOWED A PATTERN ESTABLISHED IN JUNE, MARKING THIS AS ONE OF THE WETTEST SUMMERS EVER FOR PARTS OF THE STATE. IN THE TWIN CITIES, THE SUMMER OF 2002 (JUNE THROUGH AUGUST) RANKS AS THE 4TH WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD WITH 21.81 INCHES OF RAIN. THE WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD OCCURRED IN 1987 WITH 23.52 INCHES. HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUED INTO EARLY SEPTEMBER. TWO WAVES OF THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT VERY HEAVY RAINS TO CENTRAL MINNESOTA ON SEPTEMBER 5TH AND 6TH. THE FIRST WAVE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVED TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE TWIN CITIES DURING THE EVENING RUSH HOUR OF THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT VICIOUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG WINDS OVER THE EASTERN TWIN CITIES METROPOLITAN. THE SECOND WAVE OF THUNDERSTORMS BEGAN NEAR ST. CLOUD AROUND 9:00 PM ON THURSDAY EVENING AND SLOWLY MOVED FIRST TO THE EAST, THEN DRIFTED SOUTHWARD AS THE NIGHT WENT ON. THE LINE OF STORMS THEN EXPANDED TO THE EAST AND SAGGED TO THE SOUTH. THE RESULT WAS A SWATH OF RAINFALL TOTALS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES FROM NEAR FOLEY IN BENTON COUNTY TO NEAR ROCKFORD IN EASTERN WRIGHT COUNTY. THE HIGHEST TOTAL REPORTED TO THE STATE CLIMATOLOGY OFFICE WAS 6.00 INCHES AT WRIGHT COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT OFFICE IN BUFFALO. THE ST. CLOUD AIRPORT SAW 4.39 INCHES, WHILE THE ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS REPORTED 4.48 INCHES. MOST PLACES IN THE TWIN CITIES RECORDED 2.00 TO 3.00 INCHES OF RAIN. NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER IN THE TWIN CITIES IS 2.69 INCHES. AS OF SEPTEMBER 17, THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER INDICATES ALL OF MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN TO BE FREE OF ANY DROUGHT DESIGNATION. STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, AS OF SEPTEMBER 16, WERE GENERALLY NORMAL TO HIGH FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN, AS OF SEPTEMBER 6, STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS WERE 112 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
mcwg@soils.umn.edu |
Return to Minnesota Climatology Working Group Main page