July 5/6th Heavy Rain

Picture of the heavy rain which fell during the overnight hours the 5Th into the 6Th

Heavy Rainfall was again the story last night for parts of the area, Many places picked up over an inch of rain, with some isolated areas picking up nearly 2 inches. The cause of the rain was a stationary front which was draped pretty much right over the area, a huge swath of showers and thunderstorms, which had little thunder, developed and trained over the same area, This time Western and Central parts of my blog coverage area were targeted, with the heaviest rainfall totals falling in northern Polk County, Southeast Polk County, and another spot in northern Burnett County.

At my place, the rain started here about 10pm when storms storms started developing and training pretty much following along Highway 63. During the rain it was very mild in the 70s, and the dew point was way up in the 70 degree range, making it perfect for heavy rain. I got 2 waves of very heavy rain, the first one being the heaviest, it was so heavy that the gutters on our house were over flowing. During the first wave, there was 1 single close lightning strike with loud thunder, then there was no more lightning after that! in total the rain lasted about 3 hours, but the heaviest downpours lasted about 20 minutes. by the time the rain was over I had 1.30" in the gauge, which was the first time this year I got over an inch of rain in a single rain event, or in a 24 hour day. This brought the rain for the month at 1.47" which is a great start for the month!

4th of July 2010 Firework Photos.

Fireworks July 4th 2010







I hope everyone had a great Independence day, I know I did! Rain showers moved off well enough in time for fireworks displays across the area, weather was mainly cloudy and it remained very humid with dew points in the 70s and temperatures in the mid 70s, Here is a couple of pictures from our fireworks display.
Exploding Petunia Blossom

This was a part of a little experiment I like to watch, every year I like to stick a firecracker inside of one of the more fading Petunia Flowers and watch it blow up, It's really very cool to watch as cruel as it sounds, The rest plant it's self continues to flower like it was never blown up!




small ground Firework

Warm & Humid pattern holding, with chance of thunderstorms the next 3 days

Regional View.





We will continue this Humid pattern for a few more days, as well as the chance for showers and thunderstorms. A stationary front will stall out and stay just to our southeast over the next 3 days, this will keep our thunderstorm chances alive, some places over Wisconsin could get heavy rain.

Local View.

hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Locally we will at least have the chance for showers and thunderstorms the next 3 days, as the stationary front sits just SE of the area. It wont be an all day type of rain any of these days, but the chance of scattered thunderstorms will be there. With a very moist air mass in place, some of these storms could produce some heavy rainfall if they get going enough. The chance of severe weather is low with this front, but since stationary fronts can be un predicable, I will not rule out the chance for some strong, or maybe even severe storms, Best chance for this would be Tuesday or Wednesday. Temperatures the next few days will be season in the lower to middle 80s, but if we get enough sunshine, I would not be shocked to get a few 90s. Rain chances will end, and it will start to become less humid and cooler come time Wednesday when a cool front starts to approach. Daily forecast below.

Monday. Humid, A chance of showers or Thunderstorms, otherwise partly sunny, highs in the lower to middle 80s. Monday Night, Humid, a small chance of showers or thunderstorms. lows in the mid 60s.

Tuesday, Humid, Partly Sunny, then developing thunderstorms, some could bring heavy rain, Highs in the lower to middle 80s. Tuesday Night, A chance of thunderstorms, otherwise mostly cloudy, lows in the mid 60s.

Wednesday, A chance of Thunderstorms, otherwise partly cloudy, highs in the low 80s. Wednesday Night Partly Cloudy lows in the low 60s.

Looking ahead.

Thursday through Saturday looks like we will get a break from the rain as well fall into another small dry spell, Temps will be fair, then towards the starting of next week the models show a system pulling in with the chance for rain Tues the 13th then the models are picking up on yet another warming trend, by the 15th, places could hit 90s once again. then by the 17th the models continue to pick up on a very warm, but dry pattern, by the end of the run it still shows us holding in the very warm pattern, with some rainfall possible. more on this later.

Turning Hot and Humid, Then possibly severe weather Independence Day.

Regional View.

The heat and humidity will be turning up across the Upper Midwest for the 1st half of the weekend, There a cold front will slice into the region starting Sunday, some severe weather is possible across parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.

Local View with a Independence Day theme.

We have quite a weekend up ahead. The biggest Summer Holiday event of the year, Lots of people will be traveling up to there cabins and on the roads heading two family get together. Locally, It's looking pretty well for Friday and Saturday, with sunny skies expected. but the air ahead of this next system will make for a Hot and humid early half of the weekend, with many places possibly topping the 90.F mark Saturday. It will also be windy with winds gusting over 30MPH at times.

4th of July

For the 4th of July, a cold front will be moving through the area and Unfortunately, There will be thunderstorms developing across Minnesota and Wisconsin, some of these storms could even be strong to severe. So people will want to keep a weather radio close at hand, It wont be raining the entire area, It will likely be in one wave of an hour or 2 of Thunderstorms, then they will pass. We may "luck" out entirely and this wave may miss the area, but right now, I have to keep a good chance of rain in the forecast. Sunday Temperature Wise will be Hot and Humid, then cooler conditions when the storms and rain hit. Daily Forecast Below.

Friday, Windy, Hot & Humid, Sunny Skies with highs in the Mid 80s. Friday Night, Partly Cloudy, Warm, Humid, Lows in the mid 60s.

Saturday, Windy, Hot & Humid, Partly Cloudy Skies with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. Saturday Night, Partly Cloudy and Humid. lows in the upper 60s.

Independence Day! Sunny at first, Then Thunderstorms Developing in the afternoon. Some storms could be strong to severe, Then Clearing conditions. Warm, Humid and Windy. Highs in the mid 80s. Sunday Night, Storms possible early some strong to severe, otherwise mostly cloudy and cooler with lows in the mid 60s.

Looking Ahead

The Forecast models show up and down temperatures for the next few weeks, Starting with Monday, Monday looks Continued Warm and Humid at this time, with drier conditions. Tuesday looks like storms possible, with cooler conditions. then it looks like we have a dry couple of days Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the 7th, 8th and 9th with fair temps. then Saturday the 10th, the models show a warming trend, with Hot conditions by the midweek the 13th then the models predict Stormy conditions the 14th possible for the local area. with Drier conditions for the 15th, It will continue to be warm through this time, more on this later.

Drought Condtions Finally easing up, Crops and Gardens doing better then ever!

Drought Monitor Maps for Wisconsin July 1st 2010

After more then a year of drought conditions across our local area, the drought is finally showing signs of ending. For more then a year most to all of the area was plagued between either Moderate to Severe and even at times Extreme drought. but thanks to a Wet June, we finally are getting out of the drought, now leaving only Abnormally dry conditions meaning the drought has improved significantly, Hopefully by the end of this summer, we can remove the drought completely!
Cornfields July 1st





The effects on the more wetter conditions on the corn has been great! We are getting some of the best crops we've has in resent years, Local Farmers always say Corn has to at least be knee high by the 4th of July or it's likely it wont work out, but this year Corn is over waist high already right now even before the 4th! Lakes and Rivers have gone up some as well, but it will still be some time before those rise significantly, and we would need to continue this wet pattern.



Garden July 1st

The effects of the wet June have been great on my gardens, I have not had to water my garden even 1 time so far this summer! This is the first time, in many years, and the plants really seem to be flourishing quite well

June Rainfall


In total for June I picked up 4.94" of rain, Which is above the normal of 4.79" which came spread out through the entire month, As I've said in past posts, This will also go down as the wettest June I've recorded in 3 years time!

Sunny & Bright weather next 3 days!

Regional Weather Conditions





Were looking at an actually quiet next 3 days ahead, with high confidence that there will be no rain, and nothing but bright sunny skies! a coolish high pressure will keep our weather sunny and dry across the entire Upper Midwest for the next 3 days and beyond.

Local View.

Locally we can expect the same! Bright Sunshine and pleasant temperatures and humidity for the next few days. Although Tuesday night may be a bit on the chilly side as temperatures fall in the upper 40s to low 50s. but things will quickly warm up come Thursday as highs warm near the middle 80s.Daily forecast below

Tuesday, Sunshine, cool, Highs in the mid 70s. Tuesday Night, Clear Cool, lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s.

Wednesday, Sunny, Warmer, Highs near 80. Wednesday Night, Clear Cool, lows in the lower 50s.

Thursday, Sunny & Warm! Highs in the Mid 80s. Thursday Night, Clear, lows in the middle 50s.

Looking Ahead.

The Weekend of Independence Day looks like a Warm and Dry one at this time although on Sunday, Independence day there may be a few thunderstorms, Monday the 5th looks cooler and dry. then towards Midweek we have another chance at some rain with warming temperatures. then towards the 10th of July things look more interesting, it shows a stronger system possible impacting the area. Then it shows drier conditions and warm conditions by the end of the run towards the 14th of July. More on this later.

Heavy Rain/Strong winds hit parts of the area Sunday.

GRL-3 radar shot, Polk/Barron, Dunn and St Croix counties.



Sunday a large Mesoscale Convective System developed and pushed east across Minnesota, late in the evening, This system reached Western Wisconsin, and It's northern edge hit the area, bringing moderate to heavy rains and some gusty winds to some areas. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Southern Dunn County when high winds were expected, but no damage was reported. although there were some strong winds in this area. A Flash Flood Warning was also issued for Southern St Croix & Dunn Counties, for heavy rainfall totals, but no flash flooding was reported.



Video Snapshot of bright lightning Sunday Night June 28Th

At my place I got Moderate rains, lasting about an hour and a half and a few booms of bright lightning with loud thunder. I picked up a total of 0.56" with this system. None of this was extremely heavy, so it continues to ease drought conditions across the area. The entire area from north to south, east to west picked up half inch to nearly an inch of rain.


This system put my rainfall totals for the month to above average levels, which is the first month we've been above normal for rain this entire rain season. Monthly I got 4.92" The average for June is 4.79" This will also go down as the Wettest June I've recorded in the past 3 years.