at 12:12 PM by Zack Leasor

Flood Problems Continue in Upper Midwest

A few days ago we talked about some of the flash flooding problems in Minnesota and Iowa. Unfortunately, heavy rainfall has continued over the past few days in these areas and they continue to see problems. Check out this map which shows radar estimated rainfall amounts over the last week. Anywhere you see red on the map indicates over 5 inches of rain has fallen in those areas.

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Radar-estimated rainfall totals over the last 7 days. (Courtesy: NWS AHPS)

7daytotalsAll of that rain has prompted flash flooding and river flooding across the Midwest. Here is a map showing a wide variety of flood products currently in effect. Anywhere you see counties shaded in green means that they are under a flood warning, flood advisory, or flash flood watch. Counties in pink are actually under a severe thunderstorm watch.

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Current watches, warnings, and advisories as of 12:45pm CST (Courtesy: NOAA)

Unfortunately, more storms and heavy rain are on the way today which will cause additional problems for these areas. Here is the Day 1 precipitation outlook from the WPC showing an additional 1-2 inches of rainfall across southern Minnesota and northern Iowa with locally higher amounts.

Day 1 24-hour QPF valid until 7am tomorrow. (Courtesy: WPC)
Day 1 24-hour QPF valid until 7am tomorrow. (Courtesy: WPC)

Meanwhile across other parts of the country, rainfall is much needed. Some areas in the southwest United States are starting to see some pretty bad drought conditions due to a rainfall deficit.