The headlines from the storm Tuesday that hit Minnesota Tuesday, the hail and high winds. Wind speeds of 60 to even 70 miles an hour did some damage and even blew over a number of semi tractor trailers on Interstate 35 just south of Faribault. I even saw snowplows out plowing the hail off of the highways! I guess you may have to be a farmer to appreciate the rain even if you would like to be out in the field planting corn?

We had rain gauge reports called into KDHL studios from the storm Tuesday ranging from .47 inches to 2.7 inches. Around the Faribault area over to Kenyon the reports were around a half an inch. However, down just south of Albert Lea I had a report of 2.7 inches! If you look at the U.S. Drought Monitor you can see the the whole western half of the United States is in a quite severe drought. The eastern almost half of Minnesota is abnormally dry to a moderate D1 drought.

My farm in south central Minnesota is right on the edge of abnormally dry to moderate D1 drought. So, I was pleased that we picked up 1.1 inches of rain. Sure, I wish it was warmer and we could be out in the field planting corn but with the frost pretty well out of the soil the rain should have soaked into the soil. Remember, long term research at the University shows corn yields do not begin to drop until around May 10. So we have a long time yet to get the corn planted and to anticipate a good crop!

11 of the Most Devastating Weather Disasters in Minnesota Throughout The Years

We might be full of lakes and "nice" but Minnesota has had its fair share of horrible and nasty weather. Throughout the years we've had floods, fires, storms that have crushed stadium roofs flat, and tornadoes that have destroyed lives.

 

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