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Update: Major flood event in southern Minnesota

Posted at 3:01 PM on September 23, 2010 by Paul Huttner (6 Comments)
Filed under: Flooding, Rainfall

Update 3pm:

Incredible rainfall totals are still pouring in from southern Minnesota this afternoon. Here are a few from Twin Cities NWS today.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
220 PM CDT THU SEP 23 2010

HIGHWAY 52 CLOSED FROM NEAR ZUMBROTA TO PINE ISLAND DUE
TO WATER OVER THE ROADS /RUNOFF FROM FARM FIELDS/.
NUMEROUS ROAD CLOSURES IN ZUMBROTA COUNTY INCLUDING
HIGHWAY 60 NEAR BOMBAY AND HIGHWAY 56 NEAR WEST CONCORD
DUE TO OVERFLOWING CREEKS.

0641 AM HEAVY RAIN S MAPLETON E6.00 INCH TRAINED SPOTTER

SPOTTER MEASURED 6+ INCHES OF RAINFALL. AMOUNT OVER 6
INCHES IS UNKNOWN BECAUSE HIS GAUGE HAD OVERFLOWED.

0715 AM FLASH FLOOD 1 ENE MINNESOTA LAKE FARIBAULT TRAINED SPOTTER

8.35 INCHES OF RAIN WITH PONDING AND STANDING WATER AND
LOCAL STREAMS RISING QUICKLY.
0940 AM FLOOD ST JAMES M8.75 INCH WATONWAN TRAINED SPOTTER

NUMEROUS STREETS UNDERWATER WITH SOME CLOSED. A FEW
APARTMENTS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED DUE TO WATER.

0800 AM FLASH FLOOD TRUMAN MARTIN EMERGENCY MNGR

ROADS FLOODED IN TRUMAN. FOUR TO FIVE FEET OF WATER IN
BASEMENTS. EGRESS WINDOWS BROKEN DUE TO FLOODING.

0151 PM HEAVY RAIN 17 NE OWATONNA M8.00 INCH GOODHUE TRAINED SPOTTER

0215 PM HEAVY RAIN AMBOY M10.53 INCH BLUE EARTH TRAINED SPOTTER

That's 10.5" of rain in 24 hours in Amboy south of Mankato. That's nearly a SUMMER'S worth of rain in one day.

Widespread reports of river, creek and basement flooding continue to flow in. Here's the doppler storm total rainfall loop as of mid-afternoon.

1 2 stp thu.gif

You can clearly see the swath of 6" to 10" north of I-90 in southern Minnesota. Rainfall of 3" to 4" edges right up into southern Dakota and Scott counties in the far south metro. 1" to 2" rainfall is common in the south half of the metro, with lesser amounts north.

The Twin Cities has so far dodged a major flood event by about 50-60 miles.

Here are some rainfall totals for the metro and St. Cloud:

-Twin Cities Airport 2.24"
-Target Field 2.2" (courtesy Larry DiVito Minnesota Twins)
-St. Paul 2.02"
-Eden Prairie (Flying Cloud) 1.96"
-Crystal 1.49"
-St. Cloud .56"

Southeast Minnesota is also getting hit hard wither over 5" in Rochester.

1 2 rst rafl.png

The good news is trends indicate the heaviest, steadiest rains are finally tapering off. There will be a few showers and maybe a clap of thunder this evening, but most of the rain has fallen. Still, it will take hours and days for floodwaters to recede in much of southern Minnesota.

PH


(original post 8:16am)

Persistent heavy rains are causing what can only be described as a major flood event in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Rainfall totals of between 4" to over 9" have been reported, with flooding in progress in a swath running north of I-90. This is TWO MONTH'S worth of rain in a day. This is a potentially life threatening situation. Get the latest flood warnings here.

1 2 flood.PNG

Incredible rainfall totals:

This is going to be a record rainfall event for many Minnesota locations. Here are some rainfall totals as of early Thursday morning. Many of these totals will increase today. We could see some rainfall totals in excess of 1 FOOT by Friday morning.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
723 AM CDT THU SEP 23 2010

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0713 AM HEAVY RAIN AMBOY 43.89N 94.16W
09/23/2010 M9.02 INCH BLUE EARTH MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0515 AM HEAVY RAIN JORDAN 44.67N 93.63W
09/23/2010 M2.35 INCH SCOTT MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM HEAVY RAIN MONTEVIDEO 44.95N 95.72W
09/23/2010 M1.92 INCH CHIPPEWA MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM HEAVY RAIN NORTHFIELD 44.45N 93.17W
09/23/2010 M5.20 INCH RICE MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM HEAVY RAIN SPRINGFIELD 44.24N 94.98W
09/23/2010 M4.00 INCH BROWN MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0715 AM FLASH FLOOD 1 ENE MINNESOTA LAKE 43.85N 93.81W
09/23/2010 FARIBAULT MN TRAINED SPOTTER

8.35 INCHES OF RAIN WITH PONDING AND STANDING WATER AND
LOCAL STREAMS RISING QUICKLY.

0715 AM HEAVY RAIN WELCOME 43.67N 94.62W
09/23/2010 M4.90 INCH MARTIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER

Here are some additional totals:

-Waseca 8.5"
-Rochester 4.54"

1 2 stp flood.gif
Doppler storm total rainfall shows a swath of 4" to 9" rainfall north of I-90 corridor in south central MN.

Flooding is in progress and will continue today in southern Minnesota. People in areas near rivers and streams should seek higher ground. This is a dangerous situation. Do not drive into flooded waters.

-Twin Cities radar loop

-Twin Cities NEXRAD storm total rainfall loop

Severe threat increasing:

As if two month's worth of rainfall isn't enough, the threat for severe storms will increase in southern Minnesota this afternoon. As the surface low pressure system pulls north with a potent warm front, warm and unstable air will open the door for severe storms.

1 2 wx sty 2.png

1 2 spc.gif

Keep an eye out for possible severe T-Storm warnings (and even a stray tornado warning) later today.

PH

Comments (6)

As of 7 AM, 1.2 inches in Edina/Morningside

Posted by Curt | September 23, 2010 8:40 AM

I know that you and your weather colleagues get uncomfortable when the general public says "isn't this because of global warming?"

But when I heard you at the 8:48 am weather segment on Morning Edition say that these events have been getting later in the season over the past ten years, and that this amount is extremely unusual as typical late September rain events are in the 1/4 to 1/2 inch range, that this IS what climate change modeling predicts will happen.

I hope you can agree with that statement, at least?

Posted by RalfW | September 23, 2010 9:14 AM

The river forecast center is updating its forecasts right now.

River conditions and forecasts can be found at . Keep in mind that these are forecasts for conditions in the next 48 hours. Crests beyond that won't be on this map, but you can click on a point to get a forecast for the next seven days.

BTW, looking at the top 22 crests on the Minnesota River at Shakopee, one was in March, one was in late July, and the rest were in April or June. There are no crests in the top 22 (that's how many they have) in September or October, and we're looking at major flooding.

And, speaking of this, the river crossing there looks like it'll be closed on Sunday, with the Chaska crossing closing on Monday, if things hold. It could be sooner; it could be later, but it's going to be a mess for commuters (and anyone who wants to cross the river there) next week and for probably much of October.

Posted by Chris B. Critter | September 23, 2010 11:06 AM

I'm from Tracy, and I have a house on one of the highest points in Tracy, and my basement is flooded.

The good thing is that now I can take pictures and later on I can fill in the low spots in my lawn with dirt once the water goes down.

Posted by Mike Martin | September 23, 2010 11:16 AM

Looks like my URL didn't make it. Let's try again.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=mpx

Posted by Chris B. Critter | September 23, 2010 12:11 PM

Quick question for Paul:
I noticed in Eden Prairie this morning at 8am that the cloud layer had two distinct colors of clouds. Blue and gray. Why does this happen?

(Couldn't find Paul's email to send ? directly so I am posting here in hopes that it is found.)

Posted by Morandir | September 24, 2010 8:00 AM

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