Flood watch again; another 2-6 inches of rain possible by Saturday
Severe weather risk Friday for southern Minnesota
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Here we go again.
A flood watch has been issued again for southern Minnesota from the Twin Cities area south into Iowa (see the image above).
Including the cities of Durand, Chanhassen, Red Wing, River Falls, Monticello, Minneapolis, Menomonie, Hastings, Le Sueur, Gaylord, Mankato, Albert Lea, Owatonna, Hudson, Faribault, Shakopee, St Paul, Hutchinson, St Peter, Blaine, Blue Earth, Victoria, Stillwater, Waseca, and Chaska
306 PM CDT Thu Jun 20 2024
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...
* WHAT...Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible. * WHERE...Portions of Minnesota, including the following areas, Anoka, Blue Earth, Carver, Dakota, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Le Sueur, McLeod, Nicollet, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sibley, Steele, Waseca, Washington and Wright and west central Wisconsin, including the following areas, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce and St. Croix.
* WHEN...From Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.
* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Area creeks and streams are running high and could flood with more heavy rain.
Our next waves of potentially heavy rainfall arrive Thursday night through Saturday morning.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale 3 km model shows the likely progression of multiple waves of rain and thunderstorms across southern Minnesota between Thursday night and Saturday morning.
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The forecast model loop below runs between 7 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Saturday.
Rainfall totals between 2 and 4 inches will be common across southern Minnesota including the greater Twin Cities area. Local totals across southern Minnesota could reach 5 to 6 inches.
The good news? Most of flood-ravaged northern Minnesota will see less than an inch of rain.
Rivers rising
Much of Minnesota has seen 5 inches to more than 10 inches of rainfall in the past few weeks. That’s two months’ worth of rain in some areas.
All that water is running into major watersheds. Several rivers are in flood stage and will reach major to near record flood stage over the next week.
The Crow River in Delano west of the Twin Cities is forecast to reach the second-highest flood stage on record early next week:
The Mississippi River at St. Paul is forecast to reach major flood stage at 19.1 feet. That’s the highest level since 2019.
Drier next week
The forecast models suggest we may finally dry out starting Sunday. Plenty of sunshine will boost temperatures into the 70s and 80s Sunday.
Next week looks much drier right now.
Stay tuned.