Wettest year ever, flood threat continues overnight

Weather history in progress

Welcome to the wettest year, to date, ever recorded in the Twin Cities. Yes, this has never happened before in your lifetime.

  • 25.05 inches and counting precipitation at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2014

  • Wettest year on record to date

  • +4 inches vs. 2001 (previous wettest year through June 20)

  • 4.66 inches rainfall total at MSP Airport since Wednesday evening (and counting)

  • Flood watches and warnings continue into at least Friday morning

  • Latest Twin Cities radar loop

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Scenes like this are all too common across southern Minnesota and the metro. Minnehaha Creek reached a new record high flow Thursday.

Our latest tropical deluge dumped 3 to 6 inches on the metro Thursday morning, and we add to that total with the next rainfall wave Thursday night.

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Virtually all of southern Minnesota is under some type of flood watch or warning. There's way too much green on the maps from the Twin Cities National Weather Service.

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Wettest year on record

As the rain totals and flood waters continue to surge around Minnesota, the big picture is eye opening. We have never lived through a year like this, so far, in Minnesota history. The 25 inches and counting through June 20th blows the previous record year of 2001 out of the water by over 4 inches.

Here's more on the wettest year on record so far from the Twin Cities NWS.

Yearly Precipitation Rankings at Minneapolis

The (chart below) for Minneapolis ended at 1 AM CDT this morning. As of 1 PM this afternoon, the total precipitation for the day stands at 3.95 inches, bringing the total for the year to 25.05 inches. This is also the highest amount of precipitation ever to fall at Minneapolis for the year, up until June 20th. The second highest was 21.00 inches that fell in 2001.

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Twin Cities NWS

Here's another angle from the Twin Cities NWS.

Flood threat continues

Additional rains means the flood threat continues overnight into Friday morning.

1221 PM CDT THU JUN 19 2014

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...

THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS...IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA...KANDIYOHI...MCLEOD... MEEKER...RENVILLE...SIBLEY AND WRIGHT. IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...ANOKA...CARVER...HENNEPIN AND SCOTT. IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...BLUE EARTH...BROWN...FARIBAULT... FREEBORN...LE SUEUR...MARTIN...NICOLLET...RICE...STEELE... WASECA AND WATONWAN. IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...REDWOOD.

* THROUGH LATE TONIGHT

* HEAVY RAINFALL PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS POTENTIALLY LEADING TO FLASH FLOODING DUE TO HIGHLY SATURATED SOIL CONDITIONS.

* RAPID RISES OF RIVERS...STREAMS...AND LOW LYING AREAS ARE LIKELY IN THE HARDEST HIT AREAS. URBAN FLASH FLOODING AND RISING LAKE LEVELS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

Bottom Line: Do not drive into flood waters overnight and Friday!

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Seeley: Trend toward record setting wet Junes in Minnesota.

Is this the new normal? yes, according to many climate watchers in Minnesota. My MPR colleague and UM climate guru Dr. Mark Seeley has more in a preview of this week's Weather Talk.

Topic: Heavy Rainfall

For the first time since July of 2011 there is no spot on the Minnesota landscape designated to be in drought! I think we all know why, another historically wet month of June is upon us. Four of the last five Junes have brought record setting rainfalls to some parts of the state. The most remarkable feature of this June is how widespread (geographically) these record-setting rainfalls have been.

Monthly totals for June rainfall already stand at record values for many observer locations, including: 13.69" at Redwood Falls, 13.00" at Luverne; 11.70" at Waseca; 10.30" at Hawley; 10.20" at Lakefield; and 9.62" at Kabetogama. Pending further additions to these remarkable June rainfall totals, this June will rank among the wettest of all-time on a statewide basis. Governor Mark Dayton declared an emergency for 35 counties, bringing Minnesota National Guardsmen to help with flood relief and storm damage recovery efforts.