WILLMAR, Minn. - Residents in southern Minnesota are mopping up wet basements after a low pressure system dumped rains of up to 9.45 inches Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning. The heaviest rains fell during the night hours.
Tornadoes were also reported in south-central Minnesota as part of the system.
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Redwood Falls officially recorded 9.45 inches in the rain event. Willmar posted 4.11 inches, according to information from the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen.
Official totals from the Weather Service also showed 6.07 inches of rain in Maynard, 5.26 inches in Granite Falls and 6.82 inches in Morton.
Unofficial rainfall totals from private individuals included higher totals, some topping 8 and 9 inches in the Bird Island area and an area south of Granite Falls.
"This amount of rainfall is very unusual to occur in such a short period of time,'' said Michelle Markgraf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office.
She said three factors were at play. A relatively strong low pressure system - more typical of autumn or winter - moved into the area. It was a slow moving system, and the air to the south was saturated with moisture. That allowed the system to wring out copious amounts of water as it dragged its way through the region.
The system's leading edge is believed to have triggered three and possibly as many as six tornado touchdowns in south-central Minnesota, according to the Weather Service.
In less than two hours late Wednesday afternoon, the area was slammed with tornadic activity.
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The National Weather Service received seven reports of tornado sightings at different locations.
Some of those sightings might have been of the same tornado, according to meteorologist Eric Ahasic. The first tornado reports started just before 5 p.m. near Nicollet. There were sightings one mile east, three miles south and one mile south of the town, Ahasic said.
By about 5:30 p.m. the northbound storm had reached the New Sweden area in the north-central part of Nicollet County. There were tornado sightings one mile north of town and another three miles to the north.
By 6:15 p.m. the storm had reached the Gaylord area in Sibley County. A tornado was reported one mile northwest of Gaylord and another sighting reported two
Just north of New Sweden, a tornado toppled the barn leaving live exposed electric wires and trapping the homeowners in the nearby house until it was ruled safe, according to the Nicollet County Sheriff's Department.
The system did not carry strong winds in west-central Minnesota, but the heavy rains caused problems of their own. Crop fields are saturated and the heavy waters filled waterways to the brim.
Crews with the Minnesota Department of Transportation responded to reports of water over the road in Morgan, a tree down on state Highway 19 near Franklin, and water issues on portions of U.S. Highway 212 and state Highway 67, reported Mandi Lighthizer, public affairs coordinator with the Willmar MnDOT office for southwest Minnesota.
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The rains in the Upper Minnesota River Valley led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase the outflow from its Lac Qui Parle Dam from 550 cubic feet per second to 2,500 cfs, on Thursday.
The rains are raising levels in Lac qui Parle Lake. It is currently at 933.6 feet and is expected to crest at approximately 938.3 feet on August 27, the Corps reported. The normal pool elevation for this time of the year is 933 feet.
The Minnesota River at Montevideo had been flowing a 916 cubic feet per second on Sunday. The flow jumped to 2,560 cubic feet per second on Thursday, and was rising.
Motorists are advised to be watchful for water on roads. The good news is that the forecast for Friday calls for only a chance of scattered storms, with drying weather and summer like temperatures in the low 80s for Saturday into Sunday.
Unfortunately, a chance of storms and rain returns Sunday night into Monday.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press contributed to this report
