Courtesy: National Weather Service: Chanhassen
A meandering cut-off low pressure system was just what the doctor ordered to work out some of the kinks in the drought situation. The most impactful rains were over eastern and west central Minnesota, where many rainfall totals over the 72 hour period ending Monday, September 25th were two inches or more. The normal monthly September rainfall is around three inches so a lot of lost ground was made up at least for one month of shortfalls. Long term deficits remain over may parts of the state so there’s a long way to go to eliminate the drought. One exception though is in the Duluth area. As of September 25, Duluth had 10.00 inches of rain for the month, with two events causing flooding in the city. September 5th saw 2.77 inches of rain and September 24th saw 3.02 inches of rain at the Duluth International Airport. Duluth is now has above normal precipitation for the year.
The Twin Cities saw one to four inches of rain from this event, with Hennepin County seeing the most. The Chanhassen National Weather Service Office saw 3.26 inches for a Saturday and Sunday total. Lake Minnetonka rose about four inches and is now above the level it was last fall at this time. The Twin Cities International Airport saw 3.40 inches Saturday through Monday, with the September monthly total is now an inch above normal. September 2023 will be the first month since March that will end with above normal precipitation. 2023 is still 4.57 inches short of normal for the year through September 25 at the International Airport.