Courtesy: College of DuPage
Repeated heavy thunderstorms produced flash-flooding in southwestern Minnesota during the morning of July 3, 2018.
Thunderstorms developed overnight in the Dakotas and central Minnesota, but one thunderstorm cell that formed between Marshall and Redwood Falls never seemed to go away, and ended up producing rainfall totals of over five inches.
The largest rainfall amounts fell along and southwest of the Minnesota River, in and around Redwood Falls, Marshall, Tracy, Slayton, and Walnut Grove, where rainfall totals of 3-5 inches were common. The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer at Redwood Falls reported 5.25 inches as of 7 AM. An automated tipping bucket at a stream gaging site near Redwoods Falls unofficially tallied over seven inches.
The heavy rains resulted in rising stream and river levels, along with flash-flooding of low lying areas. Roads were underwater in Cottonwood, Murray, Lyon, and Redwood Counties, with residential sandbagging reported around the town of Ghent.
These storms came on the heels of a soggy June, when many of the same areas received monthly rainfall totals of 8-12 inches.
Storm Reports and Public Information Statements from the National Weather Service.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 926 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2018 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0800 AM FLOOD WABASSO 44.41N 95.25W 07/03/2018 REDWOOD MN PUBLIC REPORTED VIA TWITTER. PHOTOS OF FLOODED STREETS, BALL FIELD, AND LOW LYING AREAS IN TOWN FROM HEAVY RAINFALL. PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 935 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2018 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0903 AM FLASH FLOOD 4 N LYND 44.44N 95.90W 07/03/2018 LYON MN DEPT OF HIGHWAYS ROAD CLOSED AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 19 AND COUNTY ROAD 5 DUE TO FLOODING. PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 948 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2018 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0925 AM FLASH FLOOD 2 WSW LAKE WILSON 43.99N 95.98W 07/03/2018 MURRAY MN TRAINED SPOTTER WATER OVER 40TH AVE SOUTH OF HWY 30. PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 947 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2018 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0930 AM FLASH FLOOD 3 WNW CHANDLER 43.95N 96.00W 07/03/2018 MURRAY MN TRAINED SPOTTER WATER OVER THE ROAD NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 71ST ST. AND 30TH AVE. PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 938 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2018 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0935 AM FLASH FLOOD 5 SSE WOODSTOCK 43.95N 96.05W 07/03/2018 MURRAY MN TRAINED SPOTTER WATER OVER TOWNSHIP ROADS IN SOUTHWEST MURRAY COUNTY. Public Information Statement National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1113 AM CDT Tue Jul 3 2018 ...Highest Wind Gusts... Showers with gusty winds moved through central Minnesota this morning. Peak wind gusts of 40 MPH or greater are listed below. Location Speed Time/Date Provider St. Cloud AP 70 MPH 0944 AM 07/03 ASOS Olivia AP 63 MPH 0315 AM 07/03 AWOS Alexandria 2SSE 58 MPH 0546 AM 07/03 MNDOT Alexandria AP 56 MPH 0543 AM 07/03 ASOS Princeton AP 55 MPH 1016 AM 07/03 AWOS Cambridge AP 51 MPH 1039 AM 07/03 AWOS Santiago 3E 51 MPH 1020 AM 07/03 RAWS Marietta 5SSW 51 MPH 0430 AM 07/03 MNDOT Foley 6WSW 50 MPH 0930 AM 07/03 MNDOT Sauk Rapids 4E 49 MPH 0939 AM 07/03 CWOP Willmar 2ENE 49 MPH 0100 AM 07/03 CWOP Hutchinson AP 49 MPH 1015 AM 07/03 AWOS Little Falls 2SSE 46 MPH 0907 AM 07/03 RAWS Belgrade 3ESE 46 MPH 0145 AM 07/03 MNDOT Rice 1NNW 45 MPH 0641 AM 07/03 MNDOT Granite Ledge 7N 44 MPH 0318 AM 07/03 CWOP Sauk Centre AP 43 MPH 0655 AM 07/03 AWOS Glenwood AP 43 MPH 0735 AM 07/03 AWOS Clearwater 1SE 43 MPH 0945 AM 07/03 MNDOT Paynesville AP 43 MPH 0515 AM 07/03 AWOS Redwood Falls AP 43 MPH 0839 AM 07/03 ASOS Sauk Centre 2SE 42 MPH 0645 AM 07/03 MNDOT Bock 3WNW 41 MPH 1020 AM 07/03 CWOP Silver Lake 3E 40 MPH 1035 AM 07/03 MNDOT Harding 3WNW 40 MPH 0745 AM 07/03 MNDOT Morris AP 40 MPH 0615 AM 07/03 AWOS Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.