From the N. End of Little Rock Lake, Benton County MN

WEATHER MEMORIES OF 2010

Jim Hovda, Rice MN. 56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: This is my first annual review of the years weather. There were three that I considered worth reviewing.

Last on the list, and in third place, was the very large storm that the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Duluth called THE NORTH AMERICAN EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE OF OCTOBER 26 - 27 2010. For us at Little Rock Lake, it occurred from the 24^th thru the 27^th of October. (We had a couple of days warm-up) This storm produced a record low barometer reading just north of Duluth at 28.21" of mercury or 955.2 millbar. My low reading was 28.37". If you’ll remember, the wind howled for 24 hours straight. Gusts from 30 - 50+ mph were the norm. Our poor house just shook. Four days of hard rain produced 3.47" of rain and a trace of snow. This storm was so huge, it affected all the weather in the U.S. from the Rockies to the East Coast and most of Canada. Little damage occurred here.

In second place, the near flooding that occurred in March. Now, for many of you readers, this event that only lasted eight days was insignificant. However, it had a lot of impact for the folks who lived on Little Rock Lake. As the water rose, we were sitting on pins and needles. Some started filling sandbags. It started with rain on the 9^th of March. A major ice jam on the Mississippi River caused the water in the lake to raise quickly. By the 16^th the water was raising at the rate of 1" per hour. County and township officials were alerted and they set up their HQ at the Watab Township Hall. Folks were filling sand bags. The water was advancing rapidly up our front lawn to about3/4 the way up. Then at 4:30 P.M. a call from Ken Graber was the one we had been praying for. He told me that the water was starting to flow out of Little Rock Lake. Ken lives on the Harris Channel that leads to the Mississippi River. The dam at Sartell had been opened and the ice jam was broken. It was a very scarey time.

No doubt about first place. It was the August Friday the 13^th storm that felled or seriously damaged thousands of trees and caused moderate property damage to roofs and siding of buildings. Docks and boats on the N end of Little Rock Lake sustained moderate to serious damage. As of this writing trees are still being removed. I’d guess that over 50,000 trees have been cut down. What impact will this have on our birds and other wildlife? We’ll wait and see. The landscape will be altered for years. What were forests are now open fields. Winds were clocked at nearly 90 mph. It was a storm that will be talked about for many years. Yes, it only lasted for about five minutes, but it was a very impressive five minutes. I’ll have to give serious consideration about Friday the 13^th as a bad luck day.

OTHER WEATHER TRIVIA:

C The low temp for the year was -26.7 degrees below zero (F) on Jan 26^th.

C The high temp was 93.2 (F) on Aug 12^th. That folks, is a difference of 119 degrees (F) in one year.

C The most rain fell in 24 hrs on the 13^th of Aug when I measured 2.4".

C The most precipitation in one month was in Aug when I recorded 9.37".

C The driest month was February. Only .72" of precip was recorded.

C The most snow fell in 24 hrs on Dec 25^th when I measured 4.5".

C The snow season (09-10) ended in April 2010. Our snow season produced 30.2" of snow. At the end of Dec 2010 I’ve measured 18.8" of the white stuff. Most of the snow season still remains.

C Little Rock Lake ice-out occurred on the 31st of March. Freeze up for the lake occurred on the 24^th of Nov.

That’s my weather trivia for 2010. It was an interesting year to say the least. What will 2011 bring? I’ll admit that the end of 2010 sure was interesting with our rainstorm that produced .84" of precipitation. Snow in Georgia, tornadoes in Missouri in December, flooding in several states and our record low barometer reading that set a national record.