KMSP - It is now the wettest year on record for the state of Minnesota. Not necessarily the state as a whole, but the city of Waseca has now seen the wettest year on record for ANY city in the state, with a month yet to go.
The city in south central Minnesota has recorded 54.13” of precipitation to date, breaking the old one year state precipitation record of 53.78” set in St. Francis in Anoka County during the very wet year of 1991.
The Waseca weather station is located at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center. The normal precipitation for the site is just under 36”, which means the area has seen nearly a foot and a half more liquid than normal. This station is part of the National Weather Service Volunteer Cooperative Network which began in 1890 and historically consists of approximately 175 active stations in a given year in Minnesota. The 2016 Waseca precipitation record is the highest in over 20,000 Minnesota statewide annual precipitation totals over the past 125 years.