Weekend rain, potential storms raise flood concern

The rain-soaked saga continues.

Southeastern Minnesota could be in for more storms throughout Tuesday, and with already-saturated soils and high waterways, weather experts are concerned about the potential for flooding.

“Rivers are running high in some areas, so it’s not going to take much,” said NWS hydrometeorological technician Tom Stangeland.

Much of southeastern Minnesota, including Mower County, is under a flash flood watch from noon Monday through Tuesday morning.

According to a statement issued by NWS, storms could easily produce 1 to 3 inches of rain.

“Somewhere in this region we feel pretty confident there are going to be some pretty heavy rains,” Stangeland added.

Since Saturday, Austin has already received another 1.85 inches through Monday morning. Albert Lea got hit worse over the weekend, as high water on Fountain Lake either covered local streets or prevented them from draining well, which is often the case on East Main Street. Some other streets, such as Hawthorne Street and Valley Avenue, had barricades for a spell during the weekend. Albert Lea received about 3 inches of rain Friday night. The Sunday morning storm delivered 0.75 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. However, that number could be low because the station at the airport was down much of the weekend.

Stangeland advises residents to closely watch low-lying areas in the next two days.

Austin has received 26.28 inches of rain this year, which is already more than the 22.19 inches of precipitation all of last year.

—Tim Engstrom contributed to this report.