Planes were pinned down briefly at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, streets were flooded, and pedestrians ran for cover Thursday morning as an intense but brief downpour moved through the metro area.
No planes moved in or out of the airport between 10:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. because of the heavy rain and winds. Various severe weather warnings had moved out of Minnesota into Wisconsin just before noon.
The National Weather Service recorded .76 inch of rain between roughly 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.; so did the Minnesota DNR Climatology office at the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus, between 10 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Similar amounts were recorded at Crystal Airport and Woodbury. Meteorologist Frank Watson measured .94 in Roseville, and an observer in Osceola, Wis., measured 1.03 in an hour.
Large hail also battered rooftops across the region, from Alexandria to Somerset, Wis.. But by early afternoon, the sun was out in downtown Minneapolis, where farmers market vendors who had pulled their tents down and hid under them for protection were back in business over the lunch hour. The temperature at mid-afternoon reached 80, and the forecast called for only minimal chances of rain through the afternoon and evening.
Combined with heavy rains Tuesday, the Thursday morning drenching will cause area rivers to rise, but only slightly in coming days. Recent rains will be absorbed first by soil and wetlands that are well short of moisture after months of drought, said Diane Cooper, hydrologist with the North Central River Forecast Center.
"The ground is just really appreciating this rainfall," Cooper said.
Tuesday night's rainfall included 3.11 inches of rain at St. Cloud, more than 2 inches in the northern metro suburbs and .78 inch at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
April precipitation was above normal, after an eight-month stretch that was among the driest on record, particularly across the southern half of Minnesota. Last autumn was the driest on record statewide.
