Heavy Rain in Western and Northern Minnesota: October 10-12, 2008

A large storm system brought warm muggy air northward across Minnesota during the weekend of October 10-12. Dew point temperatures in the low 60's surged into the state right up to the Canadian Border, a mugginess rarely seen so late in the season. This moisture-laden air helped to create a significant rain event, especially over western and north central Minnesota. Rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches were common from Fargo to Grand Rapids and did much to lessen the drought situation. The highest multi-day total found was 3.42 inches at Lake Itasca in Clearwater County. The normal October monthly rainfall for Lake Itasca is 2.55 inches. Grand Forks set a record daily rainfall for October 12 with 1.13 inches, breaking the old record of .94 set in 1981. Fargo had 1.23 inches on October 12 and that broke the old record of .84 inches for October 12 that was set in 1997.

With the heavy rains, some rivers in west central and north west Minnesota reached flood stage. The Red River at Fargo was forecast to reach moderate flood stage by the National Weather Service on Thursday, October 16. Lesser amounts of rain fell over the central and south, but was quite welcome.

At the same time over the weekend, cold air was pulled down from Canada and caused some heavy snow to fall over far western North Dakota, with the town of Beach receiving 11 inches of snow, bringing the reminder that winter isn't too far away.

Below are Public Information Statements courtesy the National Weather Service.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
1050 PM CDT MON OCT 13 2008
...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...

HERE ARE SOME RAINFALL TOTALS FROM AROUND THE AREA FOR THE LAST RAIN EVENT.  
TOTALS ARE FOR THE LAST 96 HOURS FROM EARLY MORNING FRIDAY OCTOBER 10TH THROUGH MONDAY 
AFTERNOON OCTOBER 13TH. 
DETROIT LAKES MN (FIRE WEATHER STATION)........3.48
LAKE ITASCA MN (FIRE WEATHER STATION)..........3.42
WYNDMERE ND (NDAWN SITE).......................3.22
WAHPETON ND (NDAWN SITE).......................3.20
KNUTSON DAM (SOUTHEAST BELTRAMI COUNTY CO.)....3.16
FRAZEE MN......................................3.16
LONG LOST LAKE MN (SOUTHERN CLEARWATER CO.)....3.14
BAUDETTE MN (FIRE WEATHER STATION).............3.10
DETROIT LAKES MN AIRPORT (AWOS)................3.07
MANTADOR ND (CO-OP)............................3.00
BAUDETTE MN AIRPORT (ASOS).....................2.87
PARK RAPIDS MN AIRPORT (ASOS)..................2.73
ROTHSAY MN (CO-OP).............................2.68
MOORHEAD MN (CO-OP)............................2.64
FOXHOME MN (CO-OP).............................2.62
FARGO ND (NDSU)................................2.61
BEMIDJI (CO-OP)................................2.58
PHELPS MILL MN (CO-OP).........................2.55
FARGO ND AIRPORT (ASOS)........................2.53
LIDGERWOOD ND (CO-OP)..........................2.45
GRAND FORKS ND (ASOS)..........................2.43
CLIMAX MN 3 ESE................................2.42 
GRAND FORKS ND (NWS LOCATION)..................2.32
FERGUS FALLS MN AIRPORT (AWOS).................2.27
CAMPBELL MN (CO-OP)............................2.26
NEW YORK MILLS MN 3 NW (CO-OP).................2.25
PILLSBURY ND (NDAWN SITE)......................2.18
EAST GRAND FORKS MN............................2.18
THORHULT MN (CO-OP)............................2.10
RED LAKE FALLS (CO-OP).........................2.08
FOSSTON MN AIRPORT (AWOS)......................2.08
PERLEY MN (NDAWN SITE).........................2.08
HILLSBORO ND (NDAWN SITE)......................2.05
AMENIA ND......................................2.04
AGASSIZ WILDLIFE REFUGE MN.....................2.04
WARREN MN (NDAWN SITE).........................1.97
FELTON MN......................................1.96
KELLIHER MN (NDAWN SITE).......................1.94
DAZEY ND (NDAWN SITE)..........................1.89
BAKER ND (NDAWN SITE)..........................1.89
MAYVILE ND (NDAWN SITE)........................1.87
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE (ASOS)..............1.84
WARROAD MN (CO-OP).............................1.83
SAUM MN........................................1.82
MAYVILLE ND (CO-OP)............................1.82
DEVILS LAKE-FORT TOTTEN ND (FIRE WX STN).......1.79
GALESBURG ND (NDAWN SITE)......................1.78
THIEF RIVER FALLS AIRPORT MN (AWOS)............1.76
ERKSINE MN 4 NNE...............................1.74
STARKWEATHER ND (CO-OP)........................1.72
HAVANA ND (CO-OP)..............................1.71
MCHENRY ND (NDAWN SITE)........................1.69
BARNESVILLE MN.................................1.68
WADENA MN (CO-OP)..............................1.65
ROSEAU MN (CO-OP)..............................1.63
CANDO ND (NDAWN SITE)..........................1.60
WARROAD MN AIRPORT (AWOS)......................1.56
ROSEAU MN AIRPORT (AWOS).......................1.53
FORMAN ND (CO-OP)..............................1.53
SARLES ND 5 NE (PORT OF ENTRY).................1.52
OSLO MN........................................1.44
EDINBURG ND (CO-OP)............................1.49
LANGDON ND (CO-OP).............................1.25
DEVILS LAKE ND AIRPORT (AWOS)..................1.39 
EDMORE ND (CO-OP)..............................1.38 
HANBORO ND (CO-OP).............................1.20 
ELBOW LAKE MN AIRPORT (AWOS)...................1.11 
DALTON MN 3 S (CO-OP)..........................1.05 
LANCASTER MN (CO-OP)...........................1.01 
SEBEKA MN (CO-OP)..............................0.97
HALLOCK MN AIRPORT (AWOS)......................0.88
WASKISH MN.....................................0.87




PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
1103 AM CDT TUE OCT 14 2008

...RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR PAST STORM AND RAINFALL TOTALS SINCE
SEPTEMBER 1ST FOR NDAWN SITES IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND RED
RIVER VALLEY...
...FROM NDAWN (NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURE WEATHER NETWORK) SITES...

                                        OCT 9-13     SEPT 1-13
ADA 1N (NORMAN CO. MN)...................1.84         9.52
BAKER 1N (BENSON CO. ND).................1.64         4.45
CANDO 2SE (TOWNER CO ND).................1.48         5.68
CAVALIER 5W (PEMBINA CO ND)..............1.72         8.98
CRARY 1E (RAMSEY CO ND)..................1.27         6.11
DAZEY 2E (BARNES CO ND)..................1.61         4.93
EKRE (RICHLAND CO ND)....................3.17         8.06
ELDRED 2W (POLK CO MN)...................3.46         7.50
FARGO - NDSU (CASS CO ND)................2.57         8.51
FINGAL 4W (BARNES CO ND).................2.29         7.45
FOREST RIVER 7WNW (WALSH CO ND)..........1.37         5.67
GALESBURG 4SSW (CASS CO ND)..............1.55         4.48
GRAFTON 12E (WALSH CO ND)................1.16         4.65
GRAND FORKS 3S (GRAND FORKS CO ND).......1.76         7.42
GREENBUSH 7W (ROSEAU CO MN)..............1.25         5.69
HILLSBORO 7SE (TRAILL CO ND).............1.93         8.24
HUMBOLDT 4S (KITTSON CO MN)..............1.04         5.31
LANDGON 1E (CAVALIER CO ND)..............1.34         5.79
LEONARD 5N (CASS CO ND)..................2.99         8.92
LIBSON 2W (RANSOM CO ND).................3.02         7.30
MAVIE 3WSW (PENNINGTON CO MN)............2.00         7.66
MAYVILLE 2E (TRAILL CO ND)...............1.72         6.12
MCHENRY 8N (EDDY CO ND)..................1.59         7.08
MICHIGAN 2W (NELSON CO ND)...............1.38         6.55
PERLEY 6E (NORMAN CO MN).................1.94         9.01
PILLSBURY 1N (BARNES CO ND)..............1.85         6.69
PROSPER 5NW (CASS CO ND).................2.44        10.50
ROSEAU 11S (ROSEAU CO MN)................1.44         4.91
SABIN 2 NE (CLAY CO MN)..................2.78         8.64
ST THOMAS 2WSW (PEMBINA CO ND)...........1.21         6.42
STEPHEN 8ENE (MARSHALL CO MN)............1.25         5.69
WAPHETON 6N (RICHLAND CO ND).............3.42         9.11
WARREN 6SW (POLK CO MN)..................2.01         7.54
WYNDMERE 2E (RICHLAND CO ND).............3.55         9.98


...AREA AIRPORT ASOS/AWOS RAINFALL TOTALS FOR SEPT 1 TO OCT 13...
BAUDETTE ASOS............6.60
FARGO ASOS...............8.63
GRAND FORKS ASOS.........8.35
PARK RAPIDS ASOS.........7.46

BEMIDJI AWOS.............NOT AVAILABLE
DETROIT LAKES AWOS.......6.86
DEVILS LAKE AWOS.........6.64
ELBOW LAKE AWOS..........4.67
FERGUS FALLS AWOS........5.80
FOSSTON AWOS.............8.54
GFK AIR FORCE BASE ASOS..7.19
HALLOCK AWOS.............4.75
JAMESTOWN ASOS...........4.87
ROSEAU AWOS..............4.90
STAPLES AWOS.............6.36
THIEF RIVER FALLS AWOS...6.74
WADENA AWOS..............4.40
WAHPETON AWOS............NOT AVAILABLE
WASKISH AWOS.............4.62
NWS GRAND FORKS OFFICE...9.20


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
348 PM CDT SUN OCT 12 2008

...UNUSUALLY HIGH OCTOBER DEW POINTS IN LA CROSSE WI...
ON OCTOBER 12TH AT 853 AM...LA CROSSE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT REPORTED A 
60 DEGREE DEW POINT AND THEN THE DEW POINTS CONTINUED TO SLOWLY CLIMB 
THROUGH THE LOWER 60S INTO THE AFTERNOON. THIS WAS ONLY THE SIXTEENTH 
OCTOBER DAY SINCE 1948 TO HAVE A DEW POINT THIS HIGH SO LATE IN THE YEAR.  
THE LATEST DATE EVER WAS OCTOBER 29TH AND THAT OCCURRED BACK IN 2004 /67F DEW POINT/.  
THIS WAS ALSO THE LAST TIME THAT WE HAVE SEEN A DEW POINT THIS HIGH SO LATE IN THE YEAR.

THE HIGHEST DEW POINT SO FAR TODAY (THROUGH 3 PM) WAS 63 DEGREES. 
ONLY SIX OCTOBER DAYS HAVE SEEN HIGHER DEW POINTS THIS LATE IN THE YEAR.  
THE HIGHEST DEW POINT EVER RECORDED WAS 68 DEGREES ON OCTOBER 3 2005...
OCTOBER 4 2005...AND OCTOBER 7 2007.

Last modified: May 17, 2017
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