November weather insanity? MSP thunder and hail, Iowa tornadoes
The crazy weather year of 2016 got even weirder Monday.
A powerful and unseasonably warm low pressure system swirled near Fargo Monday. The gigantic coverage scope of the low produced everything from snow to rain to thunder and even tornadoes from North Dakota all the way to Louisiana. The impressive cloud shield stretches from Hudson Bay all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Rare November Hail and thunder in the Twin Cities
A narrow line of persistent thunderstorms formed right over the central Twin Cities Monday. Individual storms raced northward along the nearly stationary line.
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The storms did not reached severe limits, but produced multiple round of pea to marble-sized hail for many in the Twin Cities.
Some in the Twin Cities saw (and heard) multiple rounds of hail as low-topped convective cells trained along the advancing line. Most of the hail was pea to marble-sized.
The storm set the record for the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in Fargo in November.
Near record warmth
Our Monday storm sucked up unseasonably mild air ahead of the system. Temperatures reached 55 degrees at MSP Airport Monday.
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That's average for October 23rd, and a full 21 degrees warmer than average for November 28th. The thermometer fell just 3 degrees shy of the record high of 58 at MSP Monday.
Iowa tornadoes
The long line of storms reached severe limits in Iowa. Multiple tornadoes raced along the ground across Iowa Monday.
At least 8 preliminary tornado reports in Iowa flowed into the NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.
Here's the list.
All time Minnesota Annual Precipitation Record Broken
Monday's rainfall pushed Waseca's annual precipitation this year to 53.78". That's the highest precipitation on record for any Minnesota observing station.
Waseca, in south central Minnesota, has set the official state precipitation record, coming in with the highest annual precipitation total for a National Weather Service Cooperative Observation site.
As of November 28, 2016 Waseca had a total of 53.78 inches with more precipitation on the way.
The old statewide annual record was 53.52 inches of precipitation at St. Francis in Anoka County in 1991.
The Waseca station is located at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center and has been at that location since 1914. The 1981-2010 normal precipitation for Waseca is 35.72 inches.
The National Weather Service Volunteer Cooperative Network began in 1890 and historically consists of approximately 175 active stations in a given year in Minnesota. The 2016 Waseca precipitation record is the highest in over 20,000 Minnesota statewide annual precipitation totals over the past 125 years.
Low pressure swirls east this week
Our Monday low pressure system will fill (weaken) as it swirls slowly east this week. Most of the weather drama is over now, a few flurries and snow showers may mix in by Wednesday in the metro but nothing of consequence. You'll notice the cooler breezes this week.
Stay tuned.