The Austin area received a welcome sight Friday morning: Rain.

A dry August brought corn’s growing season to a halt, Agronomist John Hillier said earlier this week. So rain is likely a welcomed sight to farmers.

“We’ve definitely been hurt with dry weather through July and August,” said Hillier, who works at Northern Country Co-Op in Rose Creek.

Rain can still help soybean pods, Hillier noted.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning shortly before 6 a.m. Friday morning as a line of storms moved northeast through Austin.

Dry weather has been the norm for much of the summer. National Weather Service Meteorologist John Wetenkamp described this summer as hot and dry.

August was abnormally dry, too. Just under an inch of rain fell in Rochester last month, which was about 3.5 inches less than average and was about the fifth driest on record, according to Wetenkamp. Numbers for Austin weren’t readily available.

Back to normal in 2011

After a twisted 2010, Minnesota’s severe weather has been closer to normal in 2011.

After leading the nation with 113 tornadoes last year, the state has quieted closer to the state’s average of about 24 tornadoes a year.

Locally, tornado season has been silent and siren free, but not necessarily abnormal, as there have been zero tornado warnings so far this year in Mower County.

“It could stack up to be an average year,” Wetenkamp said.

“2010 was surely active compared to this year,” he added.

As Friday’s storms showed, severe weather is possible through October. But, many of the best chances are back a few pages of the calendar in mid-summer.

“You’re definitely getting toward the downswing of severe weather season,” Wetenkamp said.

Still, strong cold fronts can produce severe weather, and Wetenkamp noted there are often swings in temperatures in September and October.

While it’s been back to average locally, the early numbers say the U.S. had an active year. Preliminary numbers say there have been about 1,730 twisters nation-wide, compared to 1,237 last year. However, Wetenkamp warned those numbers often change because one tornado may be reported multiple times.

Mower County weather warnings

Severe T-storm
2011 (so far): 10
2010: 13
2009: 4
2008: 16
2007: 10
2006: 10
2005: 2
2004: 8
2003: 7
2002: 4
2001: 8

Flash Flood
2011 (so far): 2
2010: 1
2009: 0
2008: 4
2007: 1
2006: 1
2005: 0
2004: 6
2003: 0
2002: 1
2001: 3

Tornado
2011 (so far): 0
2010: 1
2009: 2
2008: 5
2007: 0
2006: 0
2005: 1
2004: 2
2003: 0
2002: 1
2001: 2