What: 23.86 inches - a new Minnesota monthly rainfall record
Where: one mile south of Hokah in Houston County of southeastern Minnesota
Who: a National Weather Service Cooperative Observer
When: August 1-August 31, 2007
The same site that set the new 24 hour precipitation record for Minnesota now has the new state record for the most precipitation for an August month, as well as ANY month in a year. The National Weather Service site 1 mile south of Hokah received 23.86 inches of precipitation in August 2007, breaking the old August record of 16.52 inches in Alexandria in August 1900. The other record to fall was the most precipitation ever recorded in a month in Minnesota. The old record was July 1987 at the Twin Cities International Airport with 17.90 inches.
The Minnesota State Climate Extremes Committee is composed of representatives from the National Weather Service field office with forecast responsibilities for the location in question (in this investigation, La Crosse), the Minnesota State Climatology Office (MN DNR), the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, the National Weather Service Central Region Headquarters, and the National Climatic Data Center. Only meteorological measurements from weather stations recognized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are considered for state records.
The record-setting value was measured using a National Weather Service-issued eight-inch diameter stainless steel rain gauge with a holding capacity of 23 inches. A member of the State Climate Extremes Committee visited the Hokah site on Tuesday, August 22, 2007. He was satisfied with the location of the gauge and that proper measuring techniques were followed. The other members of the Committee concurred with his conclusions. All members of the Committee agreed that the 23.86-inch value was consistent with official and unofficial ground-based rainfall measurements made in the vicinity of the Hokah.