Flood — Wabasha, Minnesota

2010-09-23 to 2010-09-27 · near Zumbro Falls, Wabasha, Minnesota

Event narrative

Locally heavy rains pushed the Zumbro River in Zumbro Falls out of its banks starting on September 23rd. The river gage failed during the flooding and the river is estimated to have returned to within it banks on the 27th. The crest was determined by an USGS survey to have been 35.8 feet, which exceeded the flood stage by almost 18 feet. This crest also established a new flood of record. Numerous homes were heavily damaged or destroyed.

Wider weather episode

A stationary front set up across southern Minnesota on the evening of September 22nd. As an unusually moist air mass flowed over this boundary, heavy rain developed and fell repeatedly across the area during the evening and overnight hours. Soils were abnormally wet for this time of year, therefore the extreme rainfall amounts that fell caused widespread significant river flooding and flash flooding. Infrastructure was greatly affected with millions of dollars of damage, while private properties were also heavily damaged. Dodge, Olmsted, Wabasha, Winona, and Mower counties were included in federal disaster declarations (FEMA-1941-DR).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.2849, -92.4408)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 260023. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.