Rainfall is 3.19 inches above normal so far for the month of September
Borderland residents may still be pumping unwanted water from their basements as a result of last week’s heavy rains.
Although the area didn’t see the massive amounts of rainfall that southern Minnesota and Wisconsin did, there was still “quite a bit of rain” according to Alex Lamers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth.
Lamers said that overall, International Falls received 2.75 inches of rain over the course of Sept. 23-24.
“We knew there would be large amounts of rain across the area, there was just the question of where the heavy band would settle,” he explained.
Luckily, the Falls dodged the bullet that brought flooding to southern cities like Owatonna and Mankato. Lamers said those areas had more rain in a smaller amount of time.
“In the south, the ingredients were in place for not only rain, but also thunderstorms, which supports heavier rainfall,” he said. “We were fortunate enough that the rain up here was more spaced out over two days instead of one.”
The rain was caused by a low pressure fall-like system mixed with a moist summer-like system.
“These two systems colliding is rather unusual for this time of year,” Lamers said. “Because the area saw such a wet summer, the ground was already moist and the amount of water it could take in was greatly reduced. This factor caused the flooding conditions in the southern part of the state and may have brought standing water and flooded basements to northern areas like the Falls.”
As of midnight on Sept. 27, International Falls was 3.19 inches of rainfall above normal for the month and 8.04 inches above normal for the year.
“We experienced a wet summer and it is now becoming a wet fall,” Lamers said.
As for the rest of this week, the forecast is looking dryer with a chance of rain limited to today. For more information and a complete forecast visit http://www.crh.noaa. gov/dlh.
