December 2010 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for December 2010 and Annual Weather Summary for 2010

    December 2010 Statistics

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Warm, Wet, and Often Severe
2010 Annual Saint Cloud Weather Summary

2010 was a wet and warm year overall, with both season and individual events having major impact on some communities. The year included three Red River floods, including a near record flood from spring snowmelt in Fargo, a record number of Minnesota tornadoes, and Minnesota ranking at the top nationally for tornadoes.

2010 Precipitation

The total St. Cloud precipitation was 33.95 inches, 6.82 inches above normal, and the 15th highest precipitation total in St. Cloud precipitation records, which date back to 1893. Precipitation actually got off to a slow start in the first three months of the year, which was fortunate, since the heavy snowfall from the previous December led to major Red River Flooding. A stormy summer followed with Minnesota having a record number of tornadoes and the St. Cloud area hit hard by damaging winds on August 13.

Overall, the wet year was relatively rare over the past few years, except for 2002 and 2005. Several recent years have been marked by drier than normal conditions, mostly during the early and middle growing season. Those dry periods led to occasional short-term droughts over the past few late springs and early summers, which resulted in short-term water problems. On the other hand, wet years were the most common locally in the 1970's.

Heavy rains accompanied the storms in August (11th wettest) and September (third wettest). The precipitation kept up during the fall with snow cover going down in late November and heavy rain (wettest December on record) and snow (tied for 7th snowiest December).

The persistent rainfall produced 24 days with at least half an inch of rain, the seventh highest total in St. Cloud rainfall records.

The precipitation had impact on the area in the following ways:

Spring Flooding Along the Red River

Saint Cloud had slightly less than the normal amount of precipitation during the first three months, but the snow already on the ground, when it melted in March, produced near record flooding along the Red River at Fargo. There were more than 2 feet of snow in much of the eastern Dakotas and southwestern Minnesota by late February, followed by a warm and dry period that melted the entire snow cover in the area (see animation from Johns Hopkins University) by early March . The Red River levels rose well above flood stage, but the temporary sandbagging did hold in downtown Fargo, as the river crested at about 37 feet. Still, there was major flooding in other areas. The rising water has spurred debate about Red River Diversion around Fargo. There were two other incidents of flooding along the Red River, both from major rain events and, as the year closed, record snowfall in December set the potential for a third straight year of major snowmelt flooding.

Locally, the Sauk River was out of its banks in middle and late March with a peak level of 6.81 feet (flood level is 6.00 feet). That ranks as the 10th higher stage recorded at the St. Cloud gauge, but was 1.3 feet short of last year's crest. The Mississippi River in St. Cloud never got to flood stage, but reached 8.99 feet at the St. Cloud dam on March 21. That was the fourth highest crest at St. Cloud, but was short of 2009's level. There was significant flooding due to ice jams along the Mississippi River at Little Falls and in north Sartell, affecting Little Rock Lake (more ice jam pictures from the Chanhassen National Weather Service). The Highway 10 cross north of Little Falls, as well as other roads and bridges needed major work over the spring and summer due to damage from the flooding.

Dry Aftermath of Snow Season Leads to Spring Wildfires

Between the beginning of the snowmelt on March 12 and the end of April, St. Cloud entered an extremely dry period. Since the end of the last major rainstorm on March 12 through the end of April, the St. Cloud Airport picked up only 1.45 inch, two inches less than normal. Since the ground was frozen until the snow was non, none of the snowmelt could seep into the soil, so as the ground thawed, the surface vegetation was very dry.

The lack of rain coming on the heels of the rapid snowmelt produced periodic outbreaks of grass and wildfires. For the year, the Minnesota DNR Division of Forestry wildfire map showed over a thousand fires, most of them from St. Cloud northward and east of the Mississippi from the northern Twin Cities northward. There were over 25,000 acres burned by the wildfires in March and April. That's already more acreage burned than either of the past two years. Dry conditions on the heels of the snowmelt are not unusual for April. On the average, there are far more wildfires in April than during any other month.

Frequent Severe Storms Nearby in Summer

Minnesota had its highest number of tornadoes on record in 2010. 104 tornadoes were confirmed by storm surveys with 84 of them occurring between June 17 and July 17. The June 17 tornado outbreak went down in Minnesota history as the worst outbeak on record with 48 tornadoes touching down. Four of the storms were rated as EF-4 with wind speeds estimated from damage at 170-185 MPH. Two of those storms did major damage in Almora and Wadena.

The St. Cloud area had its major tornado event of the year on August 12-13. The second storm included two tornadoes touching down in Stearns County, one near Brooten and the other on the east side of St. Augusta. However, on August 13, the most local damage was produced by a straight line windstorm from Holdingford and St. Stephen through Rice and Little Rock Lake. There were widespread wind gusts over 60 MPH and one gust to 81 MPH along the north side of Little Rock Lake. Another area of tree damage was along the southeast side of St. Cloud from Riverside Park and Killian Blvd eastward to Talahi School and the St. Cloud city maintenance building. There was also some flooding in St. Cloud. A total of 2.71 inches of rain fell at the St. Cloud Airport from the evening of August 12 through the afternoon of August 13, including 1.97 inches in an hour. That was the heaviest 24-hour rainfall at the St. Cloud Airport in 4 years. A total of 2.34 inches fell during August 13, breaking the daily record rainfall. The rainfall at SCSU was 3.14 inches, the 9th heaviest 24-hour rainfall since 1991.

Wet Late Summer and Fall

Frequent thunderstorms caused intermittent heavy rain in Minnesota, but it was mostly spotty. Finally, in August, some of the rain began to hit St. Cloud. August was the 11th wettest August in St. Cloud records with over 6 inches of rain. Parts of western Stearns County were even wetter than that with Melrose more than 5 inches above normal rainfall in August. September brought the heavy rain again without the severe weather. There were over 7 inches of St. Cloud rainfall, producing the third wettest September. There were 4 days in September with at least an inch of rainfall, which ties 1914 and 1926 as the only Septembers with the most days with at least an inch of rain.

Record Low Pressure Storm in November

An intense storm developed over western and northwestern Minnesota on October 26 and 27. The central pressure from this storm dropped as low as 955.2 mb (28.21 inches) at 5:13 PM CDT on October 26 at Bigfork. That is the new pressure record for the State of Minnesota, breaking the old record of 962.7 mb (28.43 inches) at Austin and Albert Lea, set during the November 10, 1998 storm. Even though the central low didn't pass through Wisconsin, a record low pressure was set from this storm at Superior (961.3 mb; 28.45 inches). Record low pressures were set for International Falls, LaCrosse, and Duluth with the second lowest pressure ever seen in the Twin Cities.

The extreme low pressure storm created a large pressure difference, producing high winds, resulting in power outages for 50,000 people, some snow in northern Minnesota. There were more than 5 inches of rainfall in Askov and the rain in St. Cloud broke two daily precipitation records.

2010 Temperature

The average 2010 St. Cloud temperature climbed well above normal, averaging 44.5°F for the year, 2.7°F warmer than normal. This marked a return to the warmer years in the middle of the decade. The overall temperature in the 2000's were significantly warmer than the first half of the 1990's. That mostly corresponds to the warm winters in the late 1990's and early 2000's.

The warmth was fueled by an eztremely warm March (third warmest and warmest in 82 years) and April (third warmest and warmest in 95 years). The combination led to the fourth warmest spring in St. Cloud records.

Summer 2010 came out warmer than normal, thanks in large part to the 7th warmest August on record. That lies in contrast to the past 2 years, but is consistent with the warmer summers in the middle of the 2000's.

Any trend in St. Cloud temperatures cannot be taken as any proof or disproof of global warming. Worldwide, 2010 was headed towards being one of the warmest years in overall temperatures.

2010 (What?) Snowfall

Snowfall in St. Cloud for the 2010 calendar year was only about two-thirds of normal. The total was 34.7 inches, 12 inches below the normal amount of 46.7 inches. Nearly all of the snowfall was produced in a slightly above normal February (9.2 inches, two inches above normal) and a snowy December that produced 21.0 inches. In stark contrast, there was less than an inch of snow in January (5th lowest total) and no measurable snowfall in the entire spring season of March through May (third time on record).

Despite that, there were major snowstorms elsewhere this winter with the December 10-11 storm producing more than 20 inches of snow in the eastern Twin Cities.