Event Synopsis
During the evening of July 16, 2008 a small, but intense area of thunderstorms produced torrential downpours over extreme southeastern Minnesota in Winona and Houston County. The La Crosse National Weather Service saw its greatest one day precipitation total for July 16th with 2.50 inches. The highest total found was 5.21 inches at La Crescent in Houston County. Just one mile NNW of La Crecent the rainfall total was 3.92 inches. Many streets were flooded in La Crescent and the intersection of Main and Elm Street was under two feet of water. Mudslides were reported along I-94 near Dresbach in far southeastern Winona County.
Some welcome rains fell over a large part of Minnesota on July 17, 2008. A good general soaking rain of one half to two inches fell over a multi-county area on July 17, from Rochester to Redwood Falls. Some of the heaviest rains fell on south central Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Experiment Station at Waseca received 4.14 inches in 24 hours. Farther west in Nicollet County a general one to two inches of rain fell with the highest total 2.29 inches in the township of Lafayette in the western part of the county. There was some severe weather with the rain on the 17th. There was some corn laying down due to strong winds with the storm in Layfayette Township in Nicollet County and there was some hail reported as well in Waseca and Blue Earth Counties.
Pockets of dryness continue in the state. The Twin Cities only received about two tenths of an inch of rain on July 17 and that and did little to erase the deficit that has building during June and July. From June 1 to July 18th the Twin Cities International Airport received 4.51 inches of rain and that is 2.07 inches below normal. Other places in the Twin Cities are as much as three inches behind normal over the past six weeks.
Below are local storm reports courtesy the National Weather Service.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
931 PM CDT WED JUL 16 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0540 PM FLOOD LA CROSSE 43.83N 91.23W
07/16/2008 LA CROSSE WI AMATEUR RADIO
STREET FLOODING AT COPELAND AND ST JAMES AVE
0545 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 NE WESTBY 43.68N 90.81W
07/16/2008 M3.24 INCH VERNON WI CO-OP OBSERVER
0615 PM HEAVY RAIN 4 NNW LA CROSSE 43.88N 91.26W
07/16/2008 M2.30 INCH LA CROSSE WI NWS EMPLOYEE
2.30 INCHES OF RAIN MEASURED IN THE LAST HOUR BY NWS
EMPLOYEE.
0622 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 WSW LA CRESCENT 43.81N 91.36W
07/16/2008 M1.67 INCH HOUSTON MN AMATEUR RADIO
0630 PM FLOOD 4 NE BLOOMINGDALE 43.69N 90.73W
07/16/2008 VERNON WI LAW ENFORCEMENT
WATER WAS OVER PARTS OF COUNTY ROADS D AND P IN TOWNSHIP
OF CLINTON IN NORTH CENTRAL PARTS OF COUNTY.
0638 PM FLOOD 2 NNE GREENWOOD 43.59N 90.40W
07/16/2008 VERNON WI LAW ENFORCEMENT
WATER WAS OVER SECTIONS OF COUNTY ROAD C FOR A SHORT
TIME.
0640 PM FLOOD MOUND PRAIRIE 43.78N 91.45W
07/16/2008 HOUSTON MN CO-OP OBSERVER
RAIN RUNOFF IS CAUSING VERY RAPID RISES ON AREA CREEKS
AND STREAMS.
0647 PM FLASH FLOOD 4 SSE DAKOTA 43.86N 91.33W
07/16/2008 WINONA MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
MUDSLIDES REPORTED ALONG INTERSTATE 90 NEAR DRESBACH.
TREES IN MUDSLIDE DEBRIS FLOW MAY BE ON TO SOME LANES ON
ROADWAY. FLASH FLOODING REPORTED AROUND THE AREA AS WELL.
0700 PM HEAVY RAIN LA CRESCENT 43.83N 91.30W
07/16/2008 E4.00 INCH HOUSTON MN FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
4.00 INCHES OF RAIN REPORTED IN THE CITY OF LA CRESCENT.
0702 PM FLOOD LA CRESCENT 43.83N 91.30W
07/16/2008 HOUSTON MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
MANY STREETS FLOODED AND TRYING TO CLOSE THEM OFF.
0704 PM FLASH FLOOD 5 W LA CRESCENT 43.83N 91.40W
07/16/2008 HOUSTON MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
UNOFFICIAL RAINFALL REPORTS OF 4 TO 5 INCHES CAUSING
FLASH FLOODING. WATER OVER COUNTY ROAD 6 IN PINE CREEK
AREA.
0710 PM HEAVY RAIN 2 N LA CRESCENT 43.86N 91.30W
07/16/2008 M3.45 INCH WINONA MN NWS EMPLOYEE
STREET FLOODING HAS GONE DOWN IN HILLS NORTH OF LA
CRESCENT.
0710 PM HEAVY RAIN LA CRESCENT 43.83N 91.30W
07/16/2008 E3.00 INCH HOUSTON MN NWS EMPLOYEE
0725 PM HEAVY RAIN 1 N LA CRESCENT 43.84N 91.30W
07/16/2008 M3.90 INCH HOUSTON MN NWS EMPLOYEE
NWS EMPLOYEE MEASURED 3.90 INCHES OF RAIN IN LA CRESCENT.
0725 PM FLASH FLOOD LA CRESCENT 43.83N 91.30W
07/16/2008 HOUSTON MN NWS EMPLOYEE
NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MAIN AND ELM
STREET 2 FEET UNDERWATER.
0745 PM HEAVY RAIN 4 NW HOKAH 43.80N 91.41W
07/16/2008 M3.00 INCH HOUSTON MN CO-OP OBSERVER
DAY CREEK IS OUT OF ITS BANKS.
0746 PM FLASH FLOOD MOUND PRAIRIE 43.78N 91.45W
07/16/2008 HOUSTON MN CO-OP OBSERVER
WATER OVER SECTIONS OF COUNTY ROAD 25.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
514 PM CDT THU JUL 17 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0930 AM HAIL 3 SSW JANESVILLE 44.08N 93.73W
07/17/2008 M1.00 INCH WASECA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0945 AM HAIL 2 NNW WASECA 44.11N 93.53W
07/17/2008 M1.00 INCH WASECA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
TIME IS ESTIMATED.
1036 AM HAIL 1 NNW MINNESOTA LAKE 43.85N 93.84W
07/17/2008 M0.75 INCH BLUE EARTH MN TRAINED SPOTTER
1100 AM HEAVY RAIN 2 NNW WASECA 44.11N 93.53W
07/17/2008 M4.44 INCH WASECA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
1100 AM TSTM WND DMG ESE STEELE CENTER 43.94N 93.18W
07/17/2008 STEELE MN TRAINED SPOTTER
24 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN. TIME IS ESTIMATED.
1106 AM HAIL 1 W HARTLAND 43.80N 93.51W
07/17/2008 M0.88 INCH FREEBORN MN TRAINED SPOTTER
50 MPH WINDS WERE ALSO MEASURED AT THIS LOCATION.