Flood — Cottonwood, Minnesota

2018-07-01 to 2018-07-22 · near Windom, Cottonwood, Minnesota

Event narrative

Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches (locally 5 to 10 inches upstream) during the first three days of July exacerbated flooding through the Des Moines River basin. A state of emergency was declared in the City of Windom with water breaching Island Park, the golf course, and several homes. Several county, state and local roadways flooded for up to a week, including highway 62 and numerous city streets. Significant amounts of crop and pasture land near the Des Moines River were severely impacted by major flooding as river levels climbed to the second highest crest on record at 4.4 feet above flood stage at Windom (gage site WDOM5) on July 7.

Wider weather episode

With river levels already running high due to late June rainfall, additional heavy rainfall of five to nine inches the first few days of July brought increased flooding to the West Fork of the Des Moines River.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.8480, -95.3460)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 772889. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.