Getting April Showers In May, The Latest Rain Totals Are In

by Angela Schilling, Meteorologist
May 20, 2012 9:06 PM


For a while we were in a drought and hoping for rain but over the last several weekends we’ve seen our fair share of wet weather.  This weekend, particularly late Saturday night, brought heavy amounts of rain to southeastern South Dakota as well as western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa.  Saturday afternoon also brought severe weather to parts of the plains, but in our neck of the woods rain was the main story.  By Tuesday temperatures will climb once again with 80’s expected in the east and 90’s up and down the Missouri River.  The images below show rain totals from this weekend going through Sunday morning.




Lake Benton tops the list in the area, with just under 3 inches!

Storm reports from May 19th.  Wind reports are in blue, hail in green, and tornadoes in red
...keep in mind these are preliminary reports.  We did have reports of wind damage in northwestern Iowa around Cherokee County, but other than that heavy rain was the main threat in our neck of the woods.

As of now northwest Iowa is still under a moderate drought, but with the recent rainfall,
I expect conditions to improve.



Heading into the upcoming week, although Monday and Tuesday look relatively dry, beginning Wednesday morning we'll enter into a more active or unsettled pattern with a slight chance for isolated storms each day.  Tuesday will be the warmest day of the week with highs in the 80's and 90's.  Although stormy, a little cooler air arrives by Thursday.