Heavy rain and flash flooding are possible across portions of the Southwest through Friday, where Flood Watches are in effect. Strong to locally severe thunderstorms are possible today across portions of the Plains. A tropical wave is causing heavy rainfall in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which may cause urban and small stream flooding and landslides today. Read More >
Overview
Heavy rainfall caused major flooding in southern Minnesota with rainfall totals up to 10 inches in some regions. Near-record water levels were observed for the Minnesota River, Cottonwood River, and Zumbro River. Goodhue, Martin, and Steele Counties experienced the worst damage with evacuations and multiple road closures. In Truman of Martin County, 80% of homes had at least a foot of water, a school was flooded, and there was no electricity.Photos:
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| Flooded Highway 58 in Goodhue County (photo courtesy of Howie Strusz) |
Flooded house in Owatonna |
Flooding in Shakopee |
Flooding in Zumbrota |
Radar:
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| Reflectivity (left) and storm relative velocity (right) with flash flood warnings and hail reports on evening of Sept. 22 | Reflectivity and surface analysis at 12 Z on Sept. 23 | Reflectivity (left) and storm relative velocity (right) with flash flood warning at 16:30 Z on Sept. 23 | Reflectivity and surface analysis at 18 Z on Sept. 23 |
Rain Totals
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| QPE Accumulation from Sept. 21-24 in southern MN | NEXRAD Storm Total Precipitation at 9:13 AM Sept. 23 in southern MN | MN River Hydrograph | Cottonwood River Hydrograph |
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| Zumbro River Hydrograph |
Environment
An exceptionally wet summer and moisture transport from Tropical Storm Georgette and Hurricane Karl increased flood conditions for September 22-24. High-precipitation storms formed over southern Minnesota due to low pressure over northwest Iowa on September 22. Another center of low pressure formed on September 23 and moved northward, transporting even more tropical moisture to a highly saturated area.
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| Surface analysis map at 0 Z on Sept. 23 showed warm front across northern Iowa | 300 mb wind flow showed tropical moisture transport | Water vapor imagery from Sept. 22-23 |
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