The wettest June on record has finally come to an end for portions of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa. In a few cases it was not only the wettest June on record but also the wettest single month (any month) as well. Here are a few details.
The focal point of the most anomalous rainfall during June was centered on northwestern Iowa and southeastern South Dakota.
Total precipitation in inches for the region around Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sioux City, Iowa both of whom established all-time monthly precipitation records. Note the small area east of Sioux City that appears to have had over 20” of rain during the month. The all-time Iowa state record for monthly rainfall (any month) is 22.18” at Red Oak in June 1967. It remains to be seen if this record may have been beaten at some location this past June. Map from NWS-Sioux Falls.
South Dakota
Only the extreme southeastern portion of South Dakota saw exception rainfall this past month. This included Sioux Falls that has established an all-time monthly record (any month) with 13.70”. This crushed (by 45%) the previous wettest month on record of 9.42” in May 1898 (POR began in 1893). The 4.56” of rain that fell in 24 hours on June 14-15 was just short of its all-time 24-hour record for such of 4.59” set on August 1, 1975.
Just south of Sioux Falls, near the Iowa border, an official COOP site near Canton (actually four miles west-northwest of Canton) received 18.75” of rain during the month. If verified, this would establish a new all-time state record for South Dakota by surpassing the 18.61” measured in Deadwood (in the Black Hills) during May 1946.
Iowa
The entire state of Iowa saw much above normal precipitation during June, although only the northwestern section saw record-breaking amounts. Sioux City totaled an incredible 16.65”, almost doubling its previous June record and smashing its previous all-time monthly (any month) record of 11.78” set in May 1903. Seven days of the month saw 1”+ including 5.05” on June 14th which was just short the city’s all-time 24-hour rainfall record of 5.50” set on July 17, 1972. Normal June precipitation is 3.89” for the site.
June record precipitation rankings for both Sioux City and Sioux Falls. It is remarkable to see such a wide margin between first and second place for these sites given their long periods of record (since 1871 in Sioux City and 1893 in Sioux Falls). Table from NWS-Sioux Falls.
Eastern Iowa has also been drenched. Parnell, about 20 miles southwest of Iowa City, picked up 6.20” of rain during a thunderstorm yesterday (June 30th) bringing their monthly total to 14.45”.
Minnesota
Some of the worst flooding in June occurred in Minnesota. Minneapolis received a June record amount of rainfall at its official site at the International Airport with a 11.36” accumulation (previous record 9.82” in June 1990). This has made the period of January 1-June 30 its wettest on record with 25.83” so far (the average annual precipitation for Minneapolis is just 29.96”!).
Accumulated precipitation for Minneapolis so far this year. Note how its running almost 100% above normal at this time. Graphic from NWS-Minneapolis.
Wisconsin has also been extremely wet with Eau Claire getting 9.84” of rain during June, short of their all-time June record of 10.42” set in 1990 and ditto for La Crosse with 10.26” but just short of their record 10.79” set during the June of 1993. Eastern Nebraska has also been soggy with Omaha catching 10.52” (short of the June record 12.70” in 1883) and Norfolk getting 11.39” (short of their June record 12.28” in 1924).
Meanwhile, in California one of the driest water years (July 1-June 30) has come to a close. In fact, for Los Angeles, the back-to-back combined water years of 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 have been THE driest such on record. I’ll blog about this on Thursday.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
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