"25 Years Later: The March 29, 1998 Tornadoes (including Comfrey, St Peter, and Le Center)"
Multiple tornadoes tracked along a warm front in southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and early evening of March 29, 1998. With a total of 14 tornadoes, it was the largest March occurrence of tornadoes in Minnesota. In fact, prior to 1998, there were only 7 tornadoes known to have hit Minnesota in March. There was extreme and widespread damage to trees, homes, schools, and businesses. Massive hail accompanied the storm, with golf ball to baseball size hail common. The largest hail stone fell in Courtland and was 4.5 inches in diameter. The tornadoes tracked along a warm front draped across southern Minnesota. Sadly, two people were killed by the tornadoes: an 85 year old man near Lake Hanska, Louis Mosenden, and a 6 year old boy, Dustin Schneider, near St. Peter.
"25 years after tornadoes tumbled southern Minnesota, residents still carry the lessons learned"
"On March 29, 1998, Lynette Nyman, just three months into her job as a St. Peter-based MPR News reporter received a quick visit from a fellow journalist. "Just as she was leaving, she's like, 'Oh, well take care. You know, have fun!' Nyman remembers. And then Nyman responded in a way she will never forget."'Oh, no nothing ever happens here.' I literally said those words," she said. "Nothing ever happens here. And then, just after five o'clock, everything changed." Fourteen tornadoes swept through the region. The worst damage was in Comfrey and the Lake Hanska area. In St. Peter, an F-3 tornado destroyed more than 200 homes. It tore up trees and flattened schools and businesses."
"Stillwater braces for what could be historic spring flooding"
"Volunteers are expected to fill thousands of sandbags to protect the town as the St. Croix River crests. Volunteers wearing high-visibility vests hoisted bag after bag of sand onto pallets in downtown Stillwater Monday morning, the first day of a weeklong effort to build a town-saving berm ahead of what could be a historic crest of the St. Croix River. Triggered by warnings from the National Weather Service, which for weeks has forecast a high probability of flooding after one of the snowiest winters on record, the two dozen volunteers worked through a sunny but chilly morning in a riverside parking lot closed last week in preparation for the flood fight. "You have to pace yourself," said Leesa Levy, a new Stillwater resident who said she wanted to help out. "It's nice to be able to give back to the city," said Doug Menikheim, who lives on Stillwater's South Hill. "It's a nice place to live." Stillwater Public Works Director Shawn Sanders said it's too soon to know what the berm will cost the city, or exactly when or how high the river will crest. Many years the St. Croix hit its peak in the second week of April, he said, but the cooler temperatures of the past few weeks could mean it crests late."
Spring Flood Outlook
"No real changes in the last two weeks... The late March updated outlook for spring flooding in the upper Mississippi, Minnesota, and Chippewa River basins remains well above normal, particularly on the Mississippi from St. Paul downstream. The very high snowpack for this time of year has remained in place over the last two weeks. There is some good news! The 7-10 day temperature and precipitation pattern is favorable for a slow melting period through the end of March (details later in the briefing). As always, the threat of seeing major flooding will still depend on what kind of rainfall/temperature patterns we get as we move into April."
9th Longest Stretch of at Least 1" Snow Depth at MSP
"The streak for number days in a row with at least 1 inch of snow on the ground at 6 AM CST/7 AM CDT ended at MSP on March 25. The streak began November 30 after the first major snowstorm of the season. A lack of prolonged warm air through winter and frequent snowstorms kept the streak going through late March. The 116 days ranks 9th longest such streak on record."
