SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENT

18 Jun 09 5:20 P.M. - 5:50 P.M.

The afternoon was warm and humid, little or no wind. About 4:00 P.M. the sky was dark and threatening. By 4:50 P.M. almost continuous thunder. This storm coming from the Royalton area started dumping heavy rain about 5:15 P.M. coming down in sheets at times. It was all over by 5:50 P.M. A small amount of pea sized hail and winds to 37 mph broke off some garden flowers. I recorded 1.19" of rain in about twenty minutes.

Only 3 miles east in Rice, MN it was a very different story. This same storm had winds estimated t 50 - 60 mph. Trees measuring up to 9 ½ inches in diameter were broken in two. Lots of smaller limbs were on the ground. Hail covered the ground varying in size from pea to quarter size. There was so much hail (I have never personally seen so much) that it looked like snow drifts beside some buildings. In areas where water drained to, I measured hail 17" deep. Residents reported that they had 1.4" of rain in their gages. I suspect that the hail added possibly another inch of liquid. The following day hail was still on the ground melting. Customers at the Rice American Legion reported that the water in the street was level with the curbs completely covering the street and hail covered the top of the water. Fred Segler reported that this weather event only lasted about fifteen minutes... The wind direction changed frequently.

Fred Segler, who has spent a couple hundred hours developing and tending a very large vegetable and flower garden, estimates a total loss of what he has planted except for some radishes. Hail nearly covered his garden when I saw it at 7:00 P.M.

Zuleger Creek rose about 1.5' and was really brown in color. Little Rock Lake rose almost one inch.

Driving around Rice, this violent weather was confined to only a part of the city. A square mile or so. The weather folks talked of this storm as being “spotty” in how it delivered its punishment. It appears that they were correct. Holdingford, MN also received a lot of hail and high wind.