Rainfall...FINALLY!

Some much needed rainfall has been falling over parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin all day Thursday, dropping some fairly impressive amounts of rain. This rain was so badly needed, so even though it makes things cold, damp, and dreary, it was certainly welcome. Below is radar estimates of how much rain has fallen so far. Areas west of a St. Cloud to Cleveland, MN line saw 3-5 inches of rain, which is the area of purple on the map. The isolated areas of yellow show between 5 and 7 inches of rain. Many other areas saw at least half an inch or more.



Wind was another factor with this system. Here in Eau Claire, winds were around 15-25mph, with gusts around 35mph...decent winds, but no where close to where they were with the system from last Sunday. Drier air is wrapping into the system, making the rain spotty at best. Moisture is continuing to stream northward as the low spins off to the east/northeast, and the moisture that is currently to our northwest should pivot down towards the area as we go through the day on Friday.

The rain should be out of here for most of the day on Saturday, although the clouds will probably stick around. Sunday is looking to be the nicest day of the weekend. Yet another potent storm system is forecast to move south of the area to start the next work week. The GFS is even showing some possible signs of us seeing our first flakes of the season around the second full week of October. It is still a long ways off, and it's tough to get those first snows of the season, but it's something to maybe watch for. The graphic below shows precip in the area, and the 540 line (approx. freezing line) hovering in the area as well.