Feast or famine: May rainfall so far in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - It has been a tale of two very different stories across the Upper Midwest so far this month.  Half way through and some parts of Minnesota have yet to see more than a few drops of water.  On the other hand, other sections of the state, as well as parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, have seen more than 6 inches of rain… and it doesn’t stop falling.

A stalled out and stagnant front is to blame for the copious amounts of rain that southeastern Minnesota, as well as parts of northern Iowa and southern Wisconsin have experienced over the last couple of weeks.  Day after day of scattered to numerous thunderstorms have waterlogged the area and kept rivers above flood stage.  The metro has managed to dodge a lot of this heavy rain with the majority of it falling to our south.

But the metro is on the border of too much and too little.  While MSP Airport is officially right around normal for this time of year, much of the north metro and central Minnesota are not.  From Buffalo to St Cloud, Forest Lake to Cambridge, many areas from the metro northward have seen next to nothing so far this month.  While this is actually good news for many farmers, as they work to get crops into the ground, it could have lasting effects if our dry pattern doesn’t turn before the end of the month.

While isolated to scattered storms are possible Monday, several straight dry days are likely to round out the week before more rain chances return this weekend.  That’s good for the Rochester and Austin areas, already 3 to 5 inches above average this month, but not so good for the metro and points north.