Bombarding of rain continues in Twin Cities – How did we go from so dry to so wet?
NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. (WCCO) – It's a typical sight for a Friday afternoon in the Twin Cities – kids at the playground, working out the energy while loved ones watch close by. The big difference this Friday – the only acceptable playground is inside.
The fall deluge continued over the Twin Cities Friday, as rain continues to pour into what's become an incredibly wet two-month span on the tail of one of the driest summers on record.
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It's what led parents like Joe Paskach of Plymouth to the Eagles Nest Indoor Playground in New Brighton to begin with.
"Just wanted to find a way to get out of the rain and do a little play date. I know we're feeling a little cooped up at home," he said. "It got cold all of the sudden and then we all got bombarded with rain. It kind of makes you reassess what we can do with the kids during the day."
The sudden surge of precipitation is raising eyebrows at the National Weather Service's Chanhassen office.
"There's been a lot of major changes, going from very dry, to very wet, to very dry, to very wet," said NWS Hydrologist Craig Schmidt. "You can be in an extremely dry three-month period and then get one storm like this that just changes the way everybody's perception, changes the way everyone's reacting."
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Friday's storm dumped as much rain as the state would normally see during the month of October.
This month and last, parts of the Twin Cities are up six inches in normal rainfall. It's enough to almost entirely wipe out what was considered a rather significant drought – one that came after a record setting wet winter and spring.
"We're in a long-term period now where we're just going to see more extremes," Schmidt said. "We're going to see more extreme wet periods, more extreme storms in terms of heavy rain, and more periods of dry weather. Things are going to be moving towards the ends of the extremes more often."
