Friday, September 10, 2010

Another day.. another 25-50 mm..

The third significant rainfall event in the past 12 days has dumped another 25-50 mm of rain over the Red River valley.. boosting totals since Aug 30th into the 100-175 mm range (4-7 inches) This is an abnormally large amount of rain for this time of year, with average September rainfall around 52 mm for the month. The wet weather has ensured the already waterlogged soil conditions remain saturated across the Red River valley, with extensive standing water in fields and ditches making for difficult harvesting conditions this year.

Some rainfall totals over the past 24 hours.. and since Aug 30th.

Winnipeg airport.... 22 mm .... 94 mm since Aug 30
Winnipeg Forks...... 30 mm* .... 108 mm* (estimated)
Winnipeg Chwd...... 35 mm ..... 125 mm /Rob's Obs/
Winnipeg city rainfall maps:
Aug 30-31 / Sept 1-2 / Sept 9-10

Morris...................... 39 mm .... 176 mm
Carman ................... 34 mm .... 128 mm
Elm Creek .............. 27 mm ...... 93 mm
Manitou .................. 47 mm ..... 118 mm
Starbuck.................. 32 mm ..... 95 mm
Dugald..................... 31 mm ..... 120 mm
Letellier.................. 25 mm ..... 113 mm
St Pierre ............... 25 mm ...... 106 mm
Steinbach ............. 27 mm ...... 100 mm
Selkirk ................. 26 mm ........ 86 mm
Teulon ................. 39 mm ........ 105 mm
Woodlands .......... 28 mm ........ 121 mm

NOTE: above data from Manitoba Agriculture Network

The good news is that the heavy rainfall events appear to be over for awhile.. at least through the next week or so as we get into a drier but cool pattern. Unfortunately, limited sunshine and below normal temperatures will make it difficult to get rid of standing water quickly.. which will increase the liklihood of going into the winter with saturated soil conditions.

7 comments:

  1. In the southern RRV basin on the Minnesota side today they have rec'd 20 to 30mms North to South Hallock to Grand Forks/Fargo .East of the Red in Minnesota they received 20 to 30 but in the opposite direction Detroit lakes 20 to Fosston 30 . Further north Thief River Falls 40mms and Roseau/Vassar/Sprague 50mms. All are approximates. Todays accumulation are from Midnight last night, while yesterdays info is to 700am this morning Totals are easier to do accurately tomorrow


    In North Dakota todays accumulations were much lower with 6mms at Devils Lake. This matches a similar pattern earlier in the week with greater amounts in the southern and eastern RRV.

    24hour Accumulations to 7am today can be found on my name. Tuesday totals this week here.
    24 Hour RRV Rainfall to 7am Sept 07.

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  2. Rob!
    What night do you see this week as the best potential for a frost/ freeze???

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  3. daniel..

    I think we may be safe from frost this week due to occasional cloud cover and also due to the moist surface conditions we have here in the RRV as well as right across the Prairies. The abnormally wet soil conditions across MB and SK are effectively keeping dewpoints higher than you'd normally see with a cool Arctic outbreak at this time of year. So our wet weather may be saving us from a premature frost.. at least for the next week or so. There may be some isolatesd pockets of frost in frost prone areas some clear mornings, but at this point, I don't expect a widespread frost or freeze over the RRV this week.

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  4. There may be a risk of frost Tuesday morning over the RRV if skies are clear.. but the moist soil conditions should keep it spotty and light. Greater frost potential looms later in the week into the weekend when a fresh outbreak of cool air pushes in over the eastern Prairies. If current models are correct, we may be seeing highs of only 10c on the weekend with a greater risk of a general frost or freeze by Sunday morning.

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  5. Hi everyone...

    I went through all the available stations in eastern ND and nw MN and put together a PNS on 3 day rainfall totals. Click on link on my name...

    Generally 1.50 to 3 inches along the Canadian border. One heavier area out near Rolla to west of Langdon ND and another heavier area around Roseau to Warroad. My sump pump at my house (I have a basement) has started up again.

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  7. Thanks Dan. Concurrently I posted a summary of the last 6 days of rain on Robs next post Dry Most of the Week What a week and what a 2 weeks . A graphical expression of the 2 weeks August 29th by ACIS looks like this.
    ND & RRV Rain Aug29-Sept11

    Now most all of the 1.000,000km2 of Lake Winnipeg Basin (and RRV)is at to 200% of normal Rainfall since Apr1 most of that in the last 135 days.
    That and La Nina sets the stage for a potentially momentous spring.. However it still leaves early freeze (see Robs next post) late n wet spring, cold and snowy winter as the feared ingredients.

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