Heavy rain on Christmas was fitting for Minneapolis this year. It has been a very wet year in the Twin Cities and the Christmas precipitation put 2016 into the record books as the wettest year ever.
The previous top 5 annual precipitation years in Minneapolis:
2016 – 40.32 inches
1911 – 40.15 inches
1965 – 39.94 inches
1983 – 39.07 inches
1881 – 39.06 inches
Average annual precipitation in Minneapolis is 32.04″, according to the Minnesota DNR and Climatology office.
Through November, statewide yearly precipitation was sitting at the third wettest on record. Above average December moisture helped to put Minneapolis over the yearly record. Other areas in the state of Minnesota had already broken precipitation records after only 11 months.
First 11 months of 2016 have been 3rd wettest in Minnesota history. Waseca set new annual state precip record at 54.13" (as of Nov 30) #mnwx pic.twitter.com/j1nq8gj2w5
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) December 2, 2016
Surprisingly, no monthly precipitation records were set. According to the National Weather Service in Chanhasssen, MN, August was the closest to setting a record at 6th on the monthly wettest list:
Here are the monthly ranks:
Jan: 125th
Feb: 41st
Mar: 26th
Apr: 41st
May: 97th
Jun: 59th
Jul: 29th
Aug: 6th
Sep: 15th
Oct: 26th
Nov: 16th
Dec*: 13th (through 12/25)
2016 will go down as the wettest year in the Twin Cities since records began back in 1871 #mnwx pic.twitter.com/37LbfViY1q
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) December 26, 2016
Precipitation records for Minneapolis date back to 1871. With a few more days left in the year, the total may climb slightly with a chance for snow on Thursday.
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Mace Michaels