August 11-12, 2008 Heavy Rain and Flooding Event

Rain Reports

Below is a RADAR estimation of the 24 hour rainfall from 7am Monday August 11th to 7am Tuesday August 12th 2008, focused on the southern Red River Valley. Please note that the isolated higher amounts are not properly resolved by the RADAR estimates due to the extreme variability from location to location.

Below are the event total rainfall reports from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. These reports come from a variety of data sources. The majority of these reports were obtained from National Weather Service observers unless otherwise noted.

NDAWN - NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURE WEATHER NETWORK 
ASOS - AUTOMATIC SURFACE OBSERVATION STATION
AWOS - AUTOMATIC WEATHER OBSERVATION STATION
RAWS - REMOTE AUTOMATED WEATHER STATION

 LOCATION                                 AMOUNT

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Additional Information

Daily Rain Total 3rd Highest on Record at Wahpeton/Breckenridge

Based on the preliminary information provided by the official NWS cooperative observer in Breckenridge Minnesota, the recent rainfall is the 3rd highest single day total on record.

4.30 inches of rain fell at the Wahpeton water treatment plant between 8am Monday august 11th and 8 am Tuesday august 12th. The record 24 hour total of 4.86 inches occurred on June 8 1962. On June 3rd 2007...4.73 inches of rain fell at the Breckenridge Water Treatment Plant. Unofficial reports of over 7 inches of rain in the Wahpeton and Breckenridge areas have been received by the NWS. 

Official cooperative weather reports for the Wahpeton/Breckenridge area date back to 1889. During the period 1889 to 1999 records were collected at the water treatment plant in north Wahpeton. In the winter of 2000 the station was moved to the Breckenridge side of the river...where data are now collected. The two locations are approximately 2 miles apart.

The NWS...in cooperation with the Minnesota State Climatologist Office in Saint Paul, the North Dakota State Climatologist in Fargo, and the National Climate Data Center will investigate this potential record event due to the significant impact it has made on the area. Please note this is a correction based on updated information provided by the North Dakota State Climatologist in Fargo.