Staff photo by Fritz Busch A cornfield northwest of Sleepy Eye remains flooded after nearly a foot of rain fell in Sleepy Eye in June. The National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts a near normal to slightly below normal rain pattern for southern Minnesota in July.

NEW ULM — June was a record-setting or near record-setting month for rain many people would rather forget.

“Catastrophic flooding occurred across parts of Minnesota in mid-June as a stationary boundary (a warm or cold front that stops moving) stalled out across the Upper Midwest,” according to the National Weather Service (NWS) overview of record flooding in southern Minnesota in June.

On June 19-21, several rounds of thunderstorms developed and tracked along the boundary, dropping 4-6 inches of rain across southern Minnesota, with some locations getting 8-10 inches of rain.

In a nine-day period from June 15 to June 24, 9-day precipitation totals were 9.47 inches in Mankato, 6.93 inches in Glencoe, 8.69 inches in Fairmont and Worthington, and 5.37 inches in Marshall.

“The highest June amounts overall were 13 to 16.5 inches from Mankato, through Waterville and Janesville to Northfield. It’s like a summer’s worth of rain in June,” said NWS Chanhassen Meteorologist Tyler Hasenstein. “It’s what you could consider at least a 1 in 100-year flood, if not more.”

The Mankato Airport recorded 13.24 inches of rain in June, doubling the previous record of 6.58 inches in June 2018, according to the NWS.

The New Ulm Airport received 10.5 inches of rain in June. The June record in New Ulm is 11.16 inches recorded in 1925.

However, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers reported 12.56 inches of rain on the north side of New Ulm and 10.25 inches on the south side of New Ulm.

“CoCoRaHS is a very trusted source. We refer to them often,” said NWS Meteorologist Ryan Dunleavy.

Sleepy Eye received 11.28 inches of rain in June, according to CoCoRaHS. Following were Springfield 10.44 and Comfrey 10.35.

A foot of rain fell in St. James in June. Gaylord got 11.3 inches, according to the NWS.

There was some good news too. Drought conditions ended in southern Minnesota.

“There was not a lot of severe weather either, mostly just rain,” said Hasenstein.

The NWS Climate Prediction Center forecast has some good news too.

“They’re predicting a more quiet weather pattern with slight chances of rain next week and drier, near normal to slightly below normal rainfall and slightly above average temperatures for southern Minnesota in July,” said Dunleavy.

For more information, visit https://www.weather.gov/mpx/RECORDFLOODINGJune2024.