As thunderstorms rolled across southeast Minnesota during the late afternoon of June 20th, they produced some heavy rains in a very short period of time. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell in about an hour and a half.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
As thunderstorms rolled across southeast Minnesota during the late afternoon of June 20th, they produced some heavy rains in a very short period of time. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell in about an hour and a half. This sent Trout Run Creek out of its banks in the Whitewater State Park (Winona County) causing damage to a walking bridge and washing out a road.
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 Jun 20, 1:40 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 240 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT 240 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 FORECAST CONCERNS FOCUS ON THE STORMS THIS EVENING...POSSIBILITY FOR SEVERE WEATHER. CONVECTION HAS BUBBLED ALONG A NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST RUNNING COLD FRONT...CURRENTLY RUNNING FROM NORTHWEST WI INTO NORTHWEST IA. GOOD CONVERGENCE NEAR...BUT MOSTLY POST THE BOUNDARY...ALONG WITH A STRONG THERMAL BAND IN THE LOW LAYERS. ABOUT 1000 OR SO J/KG OF MLCAPE AROUND THE FRONT WITH EFFECTIVE SHEAR OF 40 TO 50 KTS. THERE WILL BE A SEVERE RISK IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT INTO THE MID TO POSSIBLY LATE EVENING HOURS. SOUNDINGS AND 0-3 KM SHEAR VECTORS SUPPORT WIND AS THE MAIN THREAT...WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL. HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. MORE ON THAT IN THE HYDRO DISCUSSION BELOW. THINK SHOWERS/STORMS WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD THIS EVENING BEHIND THE FRONT/CONVECTIVE LINE...IN THE REGION OF SLOPING FRONTOGENETIC LIFT. CAPE MUCH LESS IN THIS REGION...ALTHOUGH SHEAR WOULD BE A BIT BETTER. COULD BE SOME SEVERE RISK IN THIS AREA...BUT THINK THE HIGHER THREAT WILL BE AROUND THE FRONT. FOR THU/FRI...THE REGION REMAINS UNDER CYCLONIC FLOW A LOFT...WITH THE 20.12Z NAM AND GFS HINTING AT SOME WEAK RIPPLES IN THE FLOW SPINNING ACROSS THE REGION THU AND FRI AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY SEEMS A BIT STRONGER. STRONG LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WITH MUCAPES AROUND 500 J/KG IN THE AFTERNOON...MOSTLY NORTH/EAST OF THE I-94 CORRIDOR. NOT A LOT...BUT ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INDICATED VIA RUC SOUNDINGS AND RH PLOTS THAT SOME SHRA/TS COULD BE GENERATED IN THIS AREA. WILL ADD SMALL CHANCES FOR THU AND CONTINUE THE FRI CHANCES. THE LOW LEVEL JET/MOISTURE TRANSPORT WILL RESULT IN THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE SD/NEB FRI NIGHT/SAT. THIS STORM COMPLEX AND RESULTING MCV WILL SLIDE EAST ACROSS IA/MN/WI ON SAT...BRINGING A SHOWER/STORM THREAT. THE NAM IS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH A SOUTHERN TRACK...WHICH WOULD SLIDE IT JUST SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE GFS AND GEM ARE FARTHER NORTH...WHILE THE EC LOOKS MORE LIKE A MIX OF THE SOUTHERN/NORTHERN SOLUTIONS. WILL LEAN TOWARD CONSENSUS IN THIS TIME FRAME. THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT WILL USHER IN SOME LESS HUMID AIR...WITH TEMPERATURES PRETTY CLOSE TO THE SEASONABLE NORMALS. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 240 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE MODELS WITH HOW LONG TO LINGER THE SAT SYSTEM ACROSS THE REGION. THE EC WOULD BRING IT THROUGH SAT NIGHT WHILE THE GFS WOULD HANG IT AROUND ON SUNDAY. GEM IS A BIT QUICKER...ALA THE EC. WILL STEER TOWARD THE CONSENSUS SOLUTION IN THIS PERIOD...WITH SOME LEAN ON THE QUICKER EC/GEM. GFS AND ECMWF IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH DROPPING A SFC HIGH ACROSS THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY FOR MON-WED WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EASES SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE PLAINS. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN A DRY START TO THE NEW WORK WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL. MOSTLY...HIGHS IN THE MID 70S TO AROUND 80 ARE EXPECTED. && .AVIATION...THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY 1251 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 MAIN AVIATION CONCERN IS TIMING OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO BOTH LSE AND RST TAF SITES FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE LATEST 20.12Z DETERMINISTIC MODELS SUGGEST REGION TO REMAIN CAPPED THROUGH MID TO LATE THIS AFTERNOON OUT AHEAD OF COLD FRONT OVER CENTRAL MINNESOTA. AS THE CAP WEAKENS LATE THIS AFTERNOON PER 20.15Z BUFKIT SOUNDINGS...EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT AND MOVE INTO THE TAF SITES AFTER 20Z. IF THE CAP HOLDS....AS SOME HI RESOLUTION MODELS SUGGEST...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY NOT MOVE INTO THE RST AND LSE TAF SITES UNTIL 23Z WEDNESDAY TO 00Z THURSDAY. AT THIS TIME...HAVE KEPT TIMING OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFTER 20Z AT RST AND 22Z AT LSE. LATEST METARS INDICATE CEILINGS HEIGHTS IN THE MVFR RANGE 2000-3000 FEET ALONG AND BEHIND COLD FRONT. THE 20.12Z DETERMINISTIC MODELS SHOW CEILINGS LOWERING INTO THE MVFR RANGE FOR A SHORT DURATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT...AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE TAF SITES. HAVE INTRODUCED MVFR CEILINGS AT RST AFTER 22Z AND AT LSE AFTER 00Z. VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL AT BOTH TAF SITES AFTER 12Z THURSDAY. && .HYDROLOGY...TONIGHT 240 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 PWS CLOSE TO 2 INCHES AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF A COLD FRONT SUGGEST HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN A THREAT TONIGHT. WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS SHOULD MOVE AT A DECENT CLIP NORTHEAST...THE SLOWER TRACK OF THE FRONT COULD LEAD TO TRAINING OF STORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN. LOCALIZED 2 TO 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE...WITH OVERALL 1/2 TO 1 INCH TOTALS MORE LIKELY. SOME BASINS ARE STILL WET AND/OR HAVE RIVER LEVELS RUNNING HIGH... INCLUDING THE ZUMBRO...BLACK...BUFFALO...TREMPEALEAU...AND MISSISSIPPI. SO WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THINGS. LATEST RIVER FORECASTS INDICATE THE MISSISSIPPI WILL RISE TO NEAR FLOOD STAGE AGAIN AT WABASHA ON WED...WHICH MEANS OTHER SITES ALONG THE BIG MUDDY WILL REACH HEIGHTS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WAS SEEN JUST LAST WEEK. CONTINUED THE HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK /ESFARX/ TO HEIGHTEN THE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE SITUATION. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... 240 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...RIECK LONG TERM....RIECK AVIATION.....DTJ HYDROLOGY....MW/RIECK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 540 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 IAZ008-009-018-019-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034-041-042- 211000- BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-DODGE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON- LA CROSSE-MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-WABASHA- WINONA- 540 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND WESTERN WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...ISOLATED SEVERE...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT. HEAVY RAINS COULD ALSO RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN WHERE RIVERS ARE ALREADY RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL. ANY THUNDERSTORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 35 TO 40 MPH WIND GUSTS ALONG WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS. 1 TO 1 1/2 INCH PER HOUR RAIN FALL RATES WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE BULK OF THE STORMS WILL HAVE EXITED BY MIDNIGHT...WITH MUCH OF THE SEVERE THREAT ENDING BY 8 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE NEXT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LATE FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...IT REMAINS TO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... LOCAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED UNTIL ABOUT 8 PM. RAINFALL AND WIND REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. IAZ010-011-029-030-WIZ043-044-053>055-061-211000- ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-FAYETTE-GRANT-JUNEAU-RICHLAND- VERNON-WINNESHIEK- 540 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY SEVERE...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT. HEAVY RAINS COULD ALSO RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING. ANY THUNDERSTORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 35 TO 40 MPH WIND GUSTS ALONG WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS. 1 TO 1 1/2 INCH PER HOUR RAIN FALL RATES WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE BULK OF THE STORMS WILL HAVE EXITED BY 1 TO 2 AM...WITH MUCH OF THE SEVERE THREAT ENDING BY 9 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE NEXT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LATE FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...IT REMAINS TO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... LOCAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED UNTIL ABOUT 9 PM. RAINFALL AND WIND REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. MW/DTJ/RIECK
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 502 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 WIZ017-202300- TAYLOR- 502 PM CDT WED JUN 20 2012 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN TAYLOR COUNTY... AT 453 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 10 MILES WEST OF LADYSMITH TO 5 MILES WEST OF CHIPPEWA FALLS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH. THIS LINE OF STORM PRODUCED AN ESTIMATED WIND GUST TO 65 MPH NEAR BLOOMER. IF THE STORMS MAINTAIN INTENSITY...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED FOR TAYLOR COUNTY. IN ADDITION TO THE WINDS...TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS. LOCATIONS THAT MAY BE AFFECTED INCLUDE... DONALD...JUMP RIVER...WESTBORO AND CHELSEA. PREPARE NOW FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER. MOVE INDOORS AND IF A WARNING IS ISSUED...TAKE ACTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. HEAVY RAIN COULD LEAD TO MINOR FLOODING OR A SHORT PERIOD OF STANDING WATER. STAY CLEAR OF DRAINAGE AREAS AND AVOID AREAS OF HIGH WATER IF THEY DEVELOP. AJ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Around 2.5 inches of rain fell in an hour and a half across Whitewater State Park. This sent Trout Run Creek out of its banks producing a debris jamb against a low walking bridge and washed out part of a gravel road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, June 2012
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: 390119.