NWS: August Wettest Month in More Than a Year in St. Cloud

(KNSI) – August was the wettest month in the last year in the St. Cloud area, thanks to some much-needed rainfall in the last week. Over the previous week, storms have brought tornadoes, 70 mph winds, hail, and heavy rain to central Minnesota.

The National Weather Service says a large part of central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin received 3 to 6″ of rain. Some areas received even more rain. Minnesota is dealing with the worst drought since 1988, leading to water restrictions across the state.

According to the National Weather Service Office in Chanhassen, St. Cloud had 3.63 inches of rainfall in August, which is still a tenth of an inch below average for the month. The heaviest rain in 24 hours came on August 24th with 1.41 inches. The most rainfall in an hour came on Saturday when .94 inches fell between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. August has been the rainiest month in the St. Cloud area since July 2020, when 5.39 inches of rain fell.

So far in 2021, St. Cloud is more than four inches below its average precipitation total, with 20.35 inches. Since June 1st, St. Cloud has gotten 7.09 inches of rain, 3.99 inches below normal.

Other parts of the state got even more rain than St. Cloud.

In August, the National Weather Services reported 6.89 inches of rain in Minneapolis, the tenth wettest August. That’s more rain than the previous three months combined, which was 6.18″ for May-July.