Image credit: Minnesota State Climatology Office
June 2024 was the fourth-wettest June and the fifth-wettest of any month on record in Minnesota. The state-average rainfall for the month, based on "gridded" data from NOAA, was 6.78 inches. This value was exceeded by June 1905 (6.85 inches), June 1914 (7.28 inches) July 1897 (7.36 inches), and the phenomenally wet June of 2014 (which averaged 8.03 inches).
The wet conditions were an extension of the active weather pattern that began during March and had led to above-normal precipitation during spring at most locations. June wasted little time in establishing its wetness, with a heavy rainfall event on the 2nd and 3rd, but it was the extremely wet period between June 15 and the 22nd that propelled the month towards the top of the rankings.
Outside of those notable events, rain generally fell somewhere in the state every two days or so, on average. The majority of observers recorded at least 15 days with measurable precipitation during the month, and dozens of observers in eastern and southern Minnesota reported at least 20 such days.
Quite a few observers with 50+ years of station history recorded their all-time wettest month during June 2024. Faribault measured a monthly total of 17.64, which led the state, was the highest monthly precipitation total for any station since August of 2007, and is the 8th highest monthly station precipitation total on record for the state--beating the highest monthly values on record from hundreds of other stations. Other all-time record monthly precipitation totals for long-term stations included 15.25 inches at Wells, 14.58 inches at Windom, 14.37 inches at Winnebago, and 13.33 inches at Owatonna.
Totals from Minnesota's five major climate reporting stations, included 7.72 inches at Duluth, 3.37 inches at International Falls, 9.86 inches at Rochester, 6.20 inches at St. Cloud, and 7.27 inches in the Twin Cities. None of these were record values for June, but with the exception of International Falls, they represent much wetter than normal conditions.
September 6, 2024
KAB