It hasn't been raining for 40 days and 40 nights, but lake and river levels around the area might make it seem like it.
It's no surprise that the summer – and the year – is off to a wet start.
According to the National Weather Service in Duluth, this year is shattering previous rainfall records set in 1950 and 2002, the last time there were significant amounts of water in the area.
“It is uncommonly wet,” said Kevin Huyck, NWS meteorologist.
Since June 1, 9.93 inches of rain has fallen as of Wednesday, which greatly surpasses the average amount of 3.22 inches of rainfall for the same time period. Not only is International Falls currently holding the trophy for the wettest June on record, it is on track for the wettest year on record. Since Jan. 1, 18.75 inches of rainfall has been recorded putting it a No. 5 on the wettest list.
“The wettest year on record is 1941 with 34.35 inches of rain for the International Falls area,” Huyck said. “We're on pace to keep up with that.”
And, there's rain more on the way.
Showers and thunderstorms are predicted for the weekend – some of them severe carrying heavy amounts of rain.
“Saturday has potential for heavy rainfall,” the meteorologist said. “On the low end, it could only be half an inch, but on the high end, it could be up to 2 inches.”
And, he continued, some “narrow stretches” of the storm could potentially carry more rain than that.
“Folks shouldn't be letting their guard down,” he said, referring to property owners on Rainy Lake and area rivers affected by ongoing flooding. “There is a lot of saturation in the ground and it won't take much rainfall before it can't absorb it.”
Unique situation
While flooding to the extent Borderland has been experiencing is uncommon, Huyck said aerial flood warnings aren't.
“We won't have flood stages along the international border like we do on some of the other steams, like the Mississippi River,” he said, “but, we do have gauge sites, so we can tell water is coming up, but we don't have a good sense of the impacts. As far as river flooding is concerned, it's not uncommon, but we don't typically have this problem along Rainy River.”
It was around June 12 the weather station was alerted by law enforcement that the local water situation was quickly becoming a problem.
“This event is unique,” Huyck said of the flooding. “At some of the gauge sites sending data, we're breaking records in the 80-year set. It's a situation we really haven't had to deal with before.”
Hang in there
Looking into an extended forecast, Huyck said high-pressure systems are working their way toward the area for the first part of July, bringing rain and storms that could hit on the Fourth of July.
“If it doesn't rain July 4, it definitely will July 5,” he said. “The long-range guidance is split on whether International Falls will stay dry for the Fourth.”
In fact, he noted most of July will see periods of rain “every couple days” until the middle of the month.
On the bright side, Huyck said he is hopeful August could bring better, dryer news.
“We'll likely start to see warmer, dryer conditions,” he said, extending the hopeful news beyond the summer months. “There's actually a good probability we'll see some drying conditions later this winter with temps warmer than what we experienced last year.”
