Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Deluge Drowns Duluth: Wettest June Day, Second Wettest All-Time in 142-Year Rainfall Record


Torrential rainfall up to 9" yesterday caused widespread flooding in the Duluth, Minnesota, area and closed roads, including I-35:
Major flooding in and around Duluth has isolated neighborhoods, drowned zoo animals and closed state parks, pushing the city's mayor to declare a state of emergency after more than 8 inches of rain had fallen across areas of northeastern Minnesota.

Steady, torrential rain closed Interstate 35 and downtown tunnels in Duluth. Police say sinkholes and washouts have made travel dangerous. Residents of the south Duluth neighborhood of Fond du Lac, near the rising St. Louis River, were being asked to leave their homes.
The National Weather Service simply noted drily that the daily rainfall record was smashed by a factor of over 2.5 to 1:
A RECORD RAINFALL OF 4.14 INCHES WAS SET AT DULUTH INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.55 SET IN 1998.
A CapitalClimate analysis of National Climatic Data Center reports from downtown Duluth (1871 to 1941) and Duluth Airport (1941 to 2011) shows that this was also the all-time June record daily precipitation, exceeding the 4" on June 23, 1876. Furthermore, this was second only to the 5.2" on July 21, 1909 for the wettest day in the 142-year record.

Some other precipitation reports from the Duluth area:
INCHES  LOCATION                 ST  COUNTY           TIME
------ ----------------------- -- -------------- -------
9.00 4 SW DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0941 AM
DENFELD NEIGHBORHOOD OF WEST DULUTH
8.38 DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0800 AM
THIS MEASUREMENT WAS TAKEN IN THE MORLEY
HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD.
8.34 ALBORN MN ST. LOUIS 1037 AM
7.72 ALBORN MN ST. LOUIS 0815 AM
7.41 4 E ISLAND LAKE MN ST. LOUIS 1130 AM
STORM TOTAL.
6.00 9 WSW PORT WING WI DOUGLAS 0830 AM
THIS ESTIMATE WAS TAKEN AT THE MOUTH OF THE
BRULE RIVER.
5.95 14 SSW BRIMSON MN ST. LOUIS 1200 PM
5.38 DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0700 AM
24 HOUR TOTAL
5.15 CASTLE DANGER MN LAKE 1200 PM
5.03 5 S PEQUOT LAKES MN CROW WING 0741 AM
4.36 DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0848 AM
4.09 SWAN RIVER MN ITASCA 0712 AM
3.44 12 N ISLE MN AITKIN 0800 AM
3.35 N BRAINERD MN CROW WING 0710 AM

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