Special Weather Statement, NWS Twin Cities, MN

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
616 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

.SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight)
Issued at 354 AM CDT Wed Sep 21 2016

The main threat continues to be for excessive rainfall this
afternoon through tonight. This morning will be relatively quiet
across the forecast area.

Overnight, strong to severe thunderstorms initiated along the low
level convergence zone along the warm front that extends from
approximately western Nebraska through far southern Minnesota. There
were some training thunderstorms initially and Waseca and Steele
counties were the hardest hit.  There, widespread 2 to 4 inches of
rain has fallen, possibly higher isolated amounts.  That cluster of
storms eventually became forward-propagating, and just in time or
the situation could have been worse in Waseca and Steele counties.

The forecast for this evening has remained pretty consistent.  We've
been very concerned about the excessive rainfall aspect and
rightfully so given the near record PWATs, and similarity of this
pattern to that of the September 22-23, 2010 heavy rain event.

However, there is a severe weather threat today and tonight.  The
SPC has included most of southern MN and a portion of west central
WI in a 'slight' risk of severe weather.  Instability will build
throughout the day across southern MN as the warm front lifts north
of Mankato. CAPE of 2,000-3,000 j/kg will build south of the front.
The front will essentially become stationary across southern MN by
this afternoon, with elevated thunderstorms likely to fire just to
its north initially. PWATs increase to near 2 inches as the upper
wave which originated off the coast of California surges into the
area by this evening. This will aid in the development of
thunderstorms with the increase in moisture and vorticity
advection. CAMs agree that storms will be oriented east to west
just north of the front (north of the metro) late this afternoon
and will begin sinking southward this evening. This would indicate
that once the storms congeal, they may become forward-
propagating/outflow dominated. Still, these will be very
efficient rainfall producers given the ingredients at hand and
could produce flash-flooding, large hail, and damaging downburst
winds. The tornado threat is low, but if storms become surface
based south of the front, can't completely rule out the
possibility.

.LONG TERM...(Thursday through Tuesday)
Issued at 354 AM CDT Wed Sep 21 2016

Thursday through Sunday...The aforementioned surface boundary
approaching from the northwest today will become stalled out
across the region starting Thursday, lasting through Friday. The
front will slowly sag south into Iowa during this period. This
motion combined with a sharp incoming upper level ridge axis will
help to subdue the coverage and intensity of rainfall by late day
Thursday on through early Saturday. However, as the upper level
ridge departs, a deep upper level low over the central Rockies
will open up and swing to the north, helping drag the stalled
front back north as a warm front. This warm front will become
part of a more organized low pressure system developing over the
lee of the Rockies in CO/NE. The upper low will then drive the
deepening surface low into the Dakotas Friday night through
Saturday, which will shift the cold front of this system across
the central Plains Saturday and across the mid-and upper-
Mississippi River Valley regions Saturday night into Sunday. This
will then bring an increase to pops from the slight-low end
chance categories Thursday and Friday to the likely
category Saturday and Saturday night. Still a bit early to
determine any severe and/or flooding potential but the
possibility for either cannot be ruled out given the orientation
and support of the upper level flow plus the resurgence of deep
moisture into the region with these features.

Monday and Tuesday...Difficult to pin down even large-scale
features for early next week due to model differences but the
general theme is to have the upper level low drop back down over
the western Great Lakes region. The idea of having sharp ridge
axes over the eastern and western CONUS coasts seems to be more
consistent between the GFS and ECWMF but will need to see how
this idea evolves over the next few days before increasing pops
beyond chance category.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday morning)
Issued at 612 AM CDT Wed Sep 21 2016

Front lifting into southern MN with little in the way of precip
activity this morning. Solid low stratus deck to the north of the
front will last through the day. This afternoon and evening,
storms will fire to the north of the front and slowly evolve
southeast with time. Expect thunder across most of the area this
afternoon or tonight and restricted ceilings and visibility at
times.

KMSP...Holding on to MVFR ceilings and visibilities lasting
through the day. Better chance for scattered to numerous SHRA/TSRA
this evening.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
Thu...MVFR. IFR likely with SHRA/TS. Wind SE 10-20 kts.
Fri...MVFR possible. Wind E 5-15kts.
Sat...VFR with MVFR/SHRA possible. Wind SE at 10g15kt.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
Issued at 354 AM CDT Wed Sep 21 2016

Flash flooding is obviously a threat into Thursday. Depending on
where and how much rain does fall, we could certainly see river
flooding become an issue heading into this weekend. A very wet
last few months has maintained high soil moisture and being late
September, the crops won't be very helpful in using up the
moisture as compared to mid summer. Hence, the runoff rate could
be very high across the area which will end up flowing quickly
into the river systems. In particular, our areas of concern are
all of southern MN and into west central WI where we have
widespread 1.5 to 3 inches of QPF in the forecast. Isolated
amounts will likely exceed 3 inches.

&&

.MPX Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
WI...Flash Flood Watch through Thursday evening for WIZ024-026-028.

     Flash Flood Watch from 1 PM CDT this afternoon through Thursday
     morning for WIZ014>016-023-025-027.

MN...Flash Flood Watch through Thursday evening for MNZ067-069-070-
     074>078-082>085-091>093.

     Flash Flood Watch from 1 PM CDT this afternoon through Thursday
     morning for MNZ051>053-059>063-066-068.

&&

SHORT TERM...SPD
LONG TERM...JPC
AVIATION...SPD
HYDROLOGY...SPD

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
424 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

MNZ051>053-059>063-066>070-074>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-
023>028-220930-
SHERBURNE-ISANTI-CHISAGO-WRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON-
MCLEOD-SIBLEY-CARVER-SCOTT-DAKOTA-BROWN-NICOLLET-LE SUEUR-RICE-
GOODHUE-WATONWAN-BLUE EARTH-WASECA-STEELE-MARTIN-FARIBAULT-
FREEBORN-POLK-BARRON-RUSK-ST. CROIX-PIERCE-DUNN-PEPIN-CHIPPEWA-
EAU CLAIRE-
424 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF THE AREA FOR
TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY. GENERALLY...3 TO 5 INCHES OF RAINFALL CAN
BE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN
MINNESOTA INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN THROUGH THURSDAY WHICH MAY
CAUSE FLOODING PROBLEMS. LOCALLY HIGHER RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR THE FLOODING TO BE WIDESPREAD
AND SIGNIFICANT...ESPECIALLY LATER THIS AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA INTO SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. THE PRIMARY
HAZARDS ARE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. SEVERE WEATHER
POTENTIAL LOOKS TO BE HIGHEST IN THE AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

SEVERAL INCHES ADDITIONAL INCHES OF RAIN ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE
WEEKEND WHICH COULD CAUSE FLOODING. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS
LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY
APPRECIATED.

MNZ041>045-047>050-054>058-064-065-073-220930-
DOUGLAS-TODD-MORRISON-MILLE LACS-KANABEC-STEVENS-POPE-STEARNS-
BENTON-LAC QUI PARLE-SWIFT-CHIPPEWA-KANDIYOHI-MEEKER-
YELLOW MEDICINE-RENVILLE-REDWOOD-
424 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND WEST
CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF
CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THE PRIMARY
HAZARDS ARE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. SEVERE WEATHER
POTENTIAL LOOKS TO BE HIGHEST IN THE AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE WEEKEND WHICH
COULD CAUSE FLOODING. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY
APPRECIATED.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
646 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 AM     HAIL             1 NNW ZUMBROTA          44.31N 92.68W
09/21/2016  M0.75 INCH       GOODHUE            MN   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            .

&&

NWS TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
IRIS SYSTEM

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
949 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0100 AM     HAIL             HAMMOND                 44.98N 92.43W
09/21/2016  M1.00 INCH       ST. CROIX          WI   COCORAHS

            .

&&

NWS TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
IRIS SYSTEM

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1054 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

MNZ093-211615-
FREEBORN-
1054 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2016

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN FREEBORN COUNTY...

AT 1053 AM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER
HOLLANDALE...OR 11 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALBERT LEA...MOVING EAST AT 50
MPH.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH AND NICKEL SIZE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
CLARKS GROVE AND HOLLANDALE.

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 35 NEAR MILE MARKER 19.

LAT...LON 4369 9326 4377 9333 4385 9309 4385 9305
      4373 9305 4373 9306
TIME...MOT...LOC 1553Z 247DEG 43KT 4376 9320