All or nothing: Patchwork rainfall totals this morning

Soaking rains in some communities.

The band of showers and thunderstorms this morning brought some interesting rainfall patterns to Minnesota.

Thursday morning’s rainfall brought welcome soaking rains to a few locations. The storm pattern this morning was patchwork. Here’s the radar loop during the 5 a.m. hour as storms clustered around the greater Twin Cities area.

All or nothing pattern

The scattered nature of these summer-like thundershowers produced an all or noting rainfall pattern around Minnesota. Many locations got little or no rain. Some spots picked up an inch or more. Thursday’s patchwork summer-like convection was more typical of June than late September.

The heaviest rainfall swaths tracked from Little Falls and Brainerd through the south end of Lake Mille Lacs, and from west of the Twin Cities into Rochester.

Storm total rainfall
Doppler estimated storm total rainfall Thursday morning
NOAA via Weather Underground

Here are some select rainfall totals from around Minnesota.

  • MSP Airport .05”

  • West St. Paul .09”

  • Chanhassen .15”

  • Duluth area .20”

  • Circle Pines .22”

  • Mahtomedi .57”

  • St. Cloud .80”

  • Waconia .81”

  • Pelican Lake area 1.5”

  • Little Falls 1.72”

  • Faribault 1.87”

  • Rochester 2.27”

Welcome rainfall

The heavier rainfall totals were welcome in the areas that were lucky enough to see them. Most of Minnesota had recorded less than an inch of rain through Sept. 23.

Monthly rainfall total through September 23
Monthly rainfall total through Sept. 23
Midwest Regional Climate Center

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