Farm Horizons
•
Oct. 10, 2016
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Page 24
September heavy rainfall
damages crops in state
Several days in late September were
a large portion of the region receiving
filled with news reports, photos, and
4-6 inches of rainfall, and some areas
Kent Thiesse
stories about flooded roads, buildings, Farm Management Analyst and Vice receiving 10-14 inches of rainfall in a
President, MinnStar Bank
and towns across many areas of south
48-hour period.
central, southeast, and central MinneNearly every river, stream, and creek
sota.
in that region was flooded, and was out
Historic rainfall amounts occurred
of its banks following the heavy rainfall
in a portion of that region September 21 and 22, with event, causing millions of dollars of damage to homes,
roads, bridges, and farm fields.
This flooding event is comparable
to the severe early fall flooding in
many areas of south central Minnesota in September 2010.
The flooding, which is among
the worst ever in many areas, was
caused by the 4 to 14 inches of rain
across much of the region during
the two days.
This type of intense rainfall is
very unusual in September, and is
usually more likely to occur in the
spring and early summer. Some locations across the region also had
strong winds and hail, along with
the heavy rains, which caused additional damage to some crops.
The University of Minnesota
Research and Outreach Center
at Waseca recorded 10.16 inches
of rainfall September 21 and 22,
which is likely the highest 48-hour
total ever recorded during September, in the over 100-year history of
the Waseca site.
As of September 22, the U of M
research site had recorded a total
of 14.37 inches of rainfall in September, which is also the highest
on record. The normal precipitation total for September at Waseca
is 3.19 inches.
The Waseca research site has
now received a total of 48.68 inches of precipitation for 2016, which
is 40 percent above the normal average precipitation of 34.70 inches
for an entire year at Waseca. The