Weather Whiplash 2014? Rivers and lakes plummeting

It's amazing how quickly we can go from flood to emerging drought in Minnesota.

Just one month ago, Minnesotans cleaning out flooded basements, overflowing rivers and lakes and roads underwater was the lead on your local newscast.

Fast forward to late July and many locations can't buy a drop of rain. Shades of brown on lawns popping up. Rivers and lakes falling.

Fast.

• .45 inch rainfall at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in the past 14 days( including today)

• .49 inch rainfall forecast at MSP over the next 16 days (12z GFS run)

• 1 inch average rainfall each week during July

Case in point? The Minnesota River at Henderson swept away homes and roads in late June. KARE 11 was on top of the devastating flood in Henderson.

Today the Minnesota River at Henderson is an astounding 20 feet lower that it was in late June. Here's today's hydrograph from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North Central River Forecast Center in Chanhassen.

Lakes too

Minnesota's surging lakes are also taking a step back and falling quickly in the recent dry spell. Here's a look at the water level on Lake Minnetonka, which has fallen a full foot since reaching an all-time record high water level of 931.11 feet above sea level on June 23.

Here's more on the steadily falling lake level from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.

Current Conditions

The wettest Twin Cities spring on record has caused historically high water levels on lakes and streams across the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. As of Monday, July 28, Lake Minnetonka was 930.10 feet above sea level, having receded a foot since reaching an all-time high of 931.11 on Monday, June 23. The lake is about five inches lower than the pre-2014 all-time high of 930.52 set in 2002 after spending 35 consecutive days above that mark in June and July.

The New Normal?

Flooding rains in spring and early summer are becoming a common theme in Minnesota in recent years. I have spoken recently with Minnesota climate experts like Peter Snyder, a professor in the Department of Soil, Water and Climate at the University of Minnesota, about these emerging "high seasonal variability" rainfall trends.

It remains to be seen if Minnesota will again careen from flash flood to flash drought again in the summer 2014. But the underpinnings of another drier late summer pattern are already established, and the forecast looks relatively dry the next two weeks.

Minnesota Weather Whiplash 2014?

Stay tuned. And keep the lawn sprinkler handy.