Very dry conditions and strong winds caused a grass fire to become out of control and burn two acres on the northeast side of Rochester in Olmsted County on April 9th.
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The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
Very dry conditions and strong winds caused a grass fire to become out of control and burn two acres on the northeast side of Rochester in Olmsted County on April 9th.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 9, 1:05 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 205 PM CDT THU APR 9 2009 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MAIN FOCUS REVOLVES AROUND DRY AIRMASS INTO THE WEEKEND AND HEIGHTENED FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS. SEE SPECIAL FIRE WEATHER DISCUSSION BELOW. SURFACE MAP THIS AFTERNOON HAD LOW PRESSURE OVER OK WITH HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER MANITOBA CANADA. THE FORECAST AREA WAS IN BETWEEN THESE TWO DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURES. VIS SATELLITE SHOWING THE NORTHERN EDGE OF CIRRUS VEIL AHEAD OF THE OK LOW REACHING INTO SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. MEANWHILE...PRETTY EXTENSIVE CUMULUS FIELD IN PLACE ACROSS NORTHERN/NORTHEAST WI UNDER INFLUENCE OF STEEP LAPSE RATES/COOLER CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT. OTHERWISE...SLIGHTLY COOLER ACROSS THE AREA TODAY COMPARED TO YESTERDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES AT 2 PM RANGING FROM THE MID 40S TO MID 50S. LATEST GFS AND NAM/WRF IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE LOW OVER OK WILL SLOWLY LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY REGION TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY WITH ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION BAND REMAINING WELL SOUTH OF THE AREA. JUST EXPECTING A BROKEN DECK OF HIGH/MID CLOUDS ACROSS THE SOUTH WITH THE NORTH REMAINING MOSTLY CLEAR. AS A RESULT...TEMPERATURES SHOULD DIVE OFF PRETTY RAPIDLY ACROSS THE NORTH INTO THE 20S OVERNIGHT WHEREAS THE SOUTH...WITH MORE CLOUD COVER...SHOULD BOTTOM OUT IN THE LOWER/MID 30S. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BE THE DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURE ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST/UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER REGION FRIDAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND. MOSTLY CLEAR/SUNNY CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A RESULT WITH TEMPERATURES JUST BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY LATEST GFS/ECMWF ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY BUT THEN DIVERGE THROUGH THE REST OF THE PERIOD WITH HANDLING OF JET ENERGY AND RESULTANT MID-LEVEL PATTERN. ECMWF SEEMS A BIT MORE REPRESENTATIVE WITH HIGHER AMPLIFIED PATTERN GIVEN RECENT TREND. AS A RESULT...AGREE WITH HPC IN PUTTING MORE WEIGHT ON ECMWF FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD. BOTH MODELS TAKING CLOSED SOUTHERN STREAM LOW FROM THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO NORTHERN IL SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. MOISTURE FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL BE BATTLING WITH DRIER LOWER LEVEL EASTERLY OUTFLOW FROM HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION SUNDAY NIGHT. EXPECTING AN INCREASE/THICKENING OF CLOUDS THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT BUT SHOULD REMAIN DRY. IT APPEARS THAT THE COLUMN GIVES INTO SATURATION ON MONDAY...MAINLY ALONG/SOUTH OF I-90. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF DRY AIR THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE TO OVERCOME...HAVE OPTED FOR SMALLER RAIN CHANCES AT THIS POINT. SMALL RAIN CHANCES LINGER MAINLY ACROSS THE SOUTH AND EAST THROUGH TUESDAY AS THE ECMWF HINTS TOWARD A SLOWER PROGRESSION OF DEFORMATION AXIS NORTH OF THE LOW. DRIER CANADIAN AIRMASS APPEARS TO OVERTAKE THE REGION WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER HUDSONS BAY INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES. WITH CLOUDS AND NORTHEASTERLY FLOW MONDAY/TUESDAY...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE A BIT BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS. HIGHS SHOULD REBOUND TO NEAR NORMAL THE REMAINDER THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION... AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL PASS SOUTH OF THE REGION TONIGHT/FRI...KEEPING THE THREAT FOR PCPN ALSO TO THE SOUTH. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD INTO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY FOR THE WEEKEND...WITH A SFC HIGH MOVING OVERHEAD BY 00Z SAT. VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH AT LEAST SAT AS A RESULT...WITH WINDS GENERALLY AROUND 10 KTS OR LESS FROM THE NORTH TO EAST THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .FIRE WEATHER...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY DRY CANADIAN AIRMASS TO DOMINATE THE UPPER MIDWEST/UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. NOT AS DRY THIS AFTERNOON WITH MIXING UP TO 800MB. A BIT MORE MOISTURE BEING EVIDENCED IN WIDESPREAD CUMULUS FIELD NORTHEAST OF I-94 CORRIDOR. HOWEVER...CRITICALLY LOW HUMIDITIES EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS HUDSONS BAY HIGH RE-GAINS CONTROL ACROSS THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY/GREAT LAKES REGION. ADDITIONAL DRY AIR IN SUBSIDENCE EXPECTED TO MIX TO THE SURFACE DURING THE AFTERNOONS OF FRI/SAT/SUN. THIS WILL RESULT IN DANGEROUSLY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES...ESPECIALLY FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN WISCONSIN. IN THESE AREAS...MINIMUM AFTERNOON HUMIDITIES IN THE 15 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO DRY ALREADY CRITICALLY DRY FINE FUELS. SEE THE LATEST FIRE WEATHER PLANNING FORECAST FOR MORE DETAILS. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT/LONG TERM...DAS AVIATION..........RIECK FIRE WEATHER......DAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 500 AM CDT THU APR 9 2009 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-101100- ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE- FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU- LA CROSSE-MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU- VERNON-WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA- 500 AM CDT THU APR 9 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA WILL RESULT IN A DRY NORTHEASTERLY FLOW THROUGH SATURDAY. LOWER RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OF 15 TO 25 PERCENT IN THE AFTERNOONS WILL LEAD TO INCREASED FIRE DANGERS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO CALL IS SCHEDULED. RABERDING
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire burned two acres of grass on the northeast side of Rochester.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 158748.