Rains push Twin Cities toward watery record; flash flood watch looms

After a near summer-long drought, Mother Nature won't turn off the spigot. Sometime today, the Twin Cities will break a century-old record for the wettest August, September, October.

By Tim Harlow, Star Tribune

Last update: October 17, 2007 - 3:23 PM

After a near summer-long drought, Mother Nature won't turn off the spigot. Sometime today, the Twin Cities will break a century-old record for the wettest August, September, October.

Also, A flash flood watch is in effect from 7 tonight through Thursday morning for parts of southern and eastern Minnesota and across the border in Wisconsin. Rain totaling 1 to 1.5 inches is expected in areas where the soil is already saturated, the National Weather Service said this afternoon. The NWS also noted that urban flooding is a concern becuase the "combination of heavy rain and storm drains clogged with fallen leaves will generate flooded roadways."

A paltry .57 inches of rain is all that is needed in the buckets at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to push the three-month period to the top of all-time precipitation list, an almost certainty since the forecast calls for a 100 percent chance of rain to fall over night.

When the rain starts falling this afternoon it might not stop until Friday night. An intense low pressure system is sucking warm moist air northward out of Iowa and cool air on the back side is setting the stage for showers and thunderstorms capable of dropping 1 to 1.5 inches of rain by Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said.

That would shatter the current-standing record of 18.63 inches, which fell from August to October 1900. As of Wednesday morning, 18.06 inches had fallen this August to October in the Twin Cities, meaning the current record is almost sure to fall.

Under the persistent gloomy skies, temperatures will hold steady in the 50s and low 60s for the next five days and lows will drop into 40s. As the low pressure system moves east, high winds steady gusts of 20 to 30 miles per hour expected on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The sun might shine on Saturday with a high of 65 degrees, the Weather Service said.

There might be good news with all this wetness. If history repeats itself, the record rain this fall might be a harbinger of lighter-than-normal snowfall this winter. After the wet fall of 1900, the winter of 1900-01 produced only 41.5 inches of snow, which is below the historic average of nearly 55 inches annually.

Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com

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