The information in this report is provided by DNR through long term programs committed to recording and tracking the long term status

of our water resources. The current conditions of precipitation, stream flows, lake levels and ground water levels in this report provide

valuable information for natural and economic resource management on a state, county and watershed level.

If you have questions on the content of this report please contact DNR Climatology Office: climate@umn.edu

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Ecological and Water Resources

Hydrologic Conditions Report

October 2016

Previous reports at: http://mndnr.gov/current_conditions/hydro_conditions.html

Rain and thunderstorms favored west central and south central Minnesota in October, 2016 with those areas finishing one to three inches above normal. North central and northeast Minnesota finished about one to two inches below normal for the month. Statewide precipitation was 2.10 inches or .39 inches below normal. October 2016 had one heavy rain episode over south central Minnesota. The heaviest rains fell in the Wells and the Winnebago area in Faribault County. 4.25 inches fell at Wells and 3.80 inches fell from October 25 to October 26 at Winnebago. October 2016 continued the warmer-than normal pattern that has been in place since September 2015. The preliminary statewide average for October 2016 was 48.2 degrees or 3.4 degrees above normal. The U. S. Drought Monitor map released on November 1, depicts the entire state free of any drought designation. The state has been completely free of any drought designation for nine weeks in a row, beginning on September 6.

The southern one third of the state continued to experience higher than normal streamflow conditions. The northern half of the state experienced mostly normal flows with some areas experiencing above normal to high flows.

When comparing October 2016 lake levels to their entire historic record, approximately 49% of the statewide gauged lakes were in the Normal percentile, 38% above normal or high, and 13% below normal or low. In October, 60% of the reporting lakes were above their average lake level of the entire historic record, with 13% at their average, and 27% of the lakes below their average lake level. Thirty-six percent of the statewide reporting lakes have lake levels more than ½ foot higher than their average, and 12% have lake levels more than ½ foot below their historic average. Some lakes in the northeastern metropolitan area reached their highest ever reported lake level. Looking at only October lake level comparisons in this report, eleven of the 24 selected lakes showed High or Above Normal percentiles, while two lakes in the Northeast and Northwest were at Low percentiles.

Groundwater levels show increases from September 2016 water level trends with levels within mostly above average ranges throughout much of the state from the submitted data. Water tables, especially in the northwest and western portions of the state showed increases from previous month’s trends. Bedrock wells in the south showed high water levels (>90% of normal water levels) whilst buried artesian wells maintained September’s above average water levels.

38

24

22

55

54

47 464652 5084 53 444948

43

42

3083

31 325182 4041

2981 39

27 28

3833

1925

2018

3717

34

16

26

1534

23

3614

21

5

3510

13

1157

5812

56

8

24

6059

9

7

3

61

661

63

73

62

72

67

77 76

68 6574

78 75

79

7170

69

80

LAKE OF THE WOODS

KITTSON ROSEAU

KOOCHICHING

MARSHALL

ST. LOUIS

BELTRAMI

POLK

PENNINGTON

COOK

LAKE

CLEARWATER

RED LAKE ITASCA

NORMAN MAHNOMEN

CASSHUBBARD

CLAYBECKER

AITKIN

WADENA CROW WING

CARLTON

OTTER TAILWILKIN

PINE

TODD MORRISON

MILLELACS

KANABECGRANT

DOUGLAS

TRAVERSEBENTON

STEVENS

STEARNS

POPE ISANTI

CHISAGO

BIG STONE SHERBURNE

SWIFT KANDIYOHI

WRIGHT ANOKAMEEKER

LAC QUI PARLE

WASH

INGT

ON

HENNEPIN

CHIPPEWARAMSEY

MCLEOD CARVERYELLOW MEDICINE DAKOTA

RENVILLE

SCOTTSIBLEY

REDWOOD GOODHUE

LINCOLNLYON

LE SUEUR

RICEBROWN

NICOLLET

WABASHA

BLUEEARTH

PIPESTONE MURRAY COTTONWOOD WINONAWASECA

STEELE DODGE

OLMSTEDWATONWAN

ROCK NOBLES

JACKSON

MARTIN HOUSTONFARIBAULT

FILLMORE

FREEBORN MOWER

Minnesota Counties and Major Watershed Index

1. Lake Superior - North2. Lake Superior - South3. St. Louis River4. Cloquet River5. Nemadji River6. (none)7. Mississippi River - Headwaters8. Leech Lake River9. Mississippi River - Grand Rapids

10. Mississippi River - Brainerd11. Pine River12. Crow Wing River13. Redeye River14. Long Prairie River15. Mississippi River - Sartell16. Sauk River17. Mississippi River - St. Cloud18. North Fork Crow River19. South Fork Crow River20. Mississippi River - Twin Cities21. Rum River22. Minnesota River - Headwaters23. Pomme de Terre River24. Lac Qui Parle River25. Minnesota - Yellow Medicine Rivers26. Chippewa River27. Redwood River28. Minnesota River - Mankato29. Cottonwood River30. Blue Earth River31. Watonwan River32. Le Sueur River33. Lower Minnesota River34. Upper St. Croix River35. Kettle River36. Snake River37. Lower St. Croix River38. Mississippi River - Lake Pepin39. Cannon River40. Mississippi River - Winona41. Zumbro River42. Mississippi River - La Crescent43. Root River44. Mississippi River - Reno45. (none)46. Upper Iowa River47. Upper Wapsipinicon River48. Cedar River49. Shell Rock River50. Winnebago River51. Des Moines River - Headwaters52. Lower Des Moines River53. East Fork Des Moines River54. Bois de Sioux River55. Mustinka River56. Otter Tail River57. Upper Red River of the North58. Buffalo River59. Red River of the North - Marsh River60. Wild Rice River61. Red River of the North - Sandhill River62. Upper/Lower Red Lake63. Red Lake River64. (none)65. Thief River66. Clearwater River67. Red River of the North - Grand Marais Creek68. Snake River69. Red River of the North - Tamarac River70. Two Rivers71. Roseau River72. Rainy River - Headwaters73. Vermilion River74. Rainy River - Rainy Lake75. Rainy River - Black River76. Little Fork River77. Big Fork River78. Rapid River79. Rainy River - Baudette80. Lake of the Woods81. Upper Big Sioux River82. Lower Big Sioux River83. Rock River84. Little Sioux River

Level 2 Hydrologic Unit (HUC4)Cedar RiverDes Moines RiverLower Mississippi RiverMinnesota RiverMississippi - Upper Iowa RiversMississippi River - Headwaters

Missouri - Big Sioux RiversMissouri - Little Sioux RiversRainy RiverRed River of the NorthSt. Croix RiverWestern Lake Superior

DNR Major Watershed -Level 4 Hydrologic Unit (HUC8)

Climatology

September 27, 2016

DNR Major WatershedDrought Intensity

D0 Drought - Abnormally DryD1 Drought - ModerateD2 Drought - SevereD3 Drought - ExtremeD4 Drought - Exceptional

U.S. Drought MonitorNovember 1, 2016

(preliminary) (preliminary)

MNDNRState Climatology Office

Notes:-Rain and thunderstorms favored west central and south central Minnesota in October, 2016 with those areasfinishing one to three inches above normal. North central and northeast Minnesota finished about one to twoinches below normal for the month. Statewide precipitation was 2.10 inches or .39 inches below normal. October2016 had one heavy rain episode over south central Minnesota. The heaviest rains fell in the Wells and theWinnebago area in Faribault County. 4.25 inches fell at Wells and 3.80 inches fell from October 25 to October 26at Winnebago.-October 2016 continued the warmer-than normal pattern that has been in place since September 2015. Thepreliminary statewide average for October 2016 was 48.2 degrees or 3.4 degrees above normal.-The U. S. Drought Monitor map released on November 1, depicts the entire state free of any drought designation.The state has been completely free of any drought designation for nine weeks in a row, beginning on September 6.

inches

2.0

4.0

1.0

3.0

5.0

Total PrecipitationOctober 2016

0.0

Total PrecipitationDeparture from Normal:

October 2016

inches

2.01.0

-2.0-1.00.0

-3.0

3.0

0.5

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38

24

22

55

54

47 464652 5084 53 444948

43

42

3083

31 325182 4041

2981 39

27 28

3833

1925

2018

3717

34

16

26

1534

23

3614

21

5

3510

13

1157

5812

56

8

24

6059

9

7

3

61

661

63

73

62

72

67

77 76

68 6574

78 75

79

7170

69

80

LAKE OF THE WOODS

KITTSONROSEAU

KOOCHICHING

MARSHALL

ST. LOUIS

BELTRAMI

POLK

PENNINGTON

COOK

LAKE

CLEARWATER

RED LAKE ITASCA

NORMAN MAHNOMEN

CASSHUBBARD

CLAYBECKER

AITKIN

WADENA CROW WING

CARLTON

OTTER TAILWILKIN

PINE

TODDMORRISON

MILLELACS

KANABECGRANT

DOUGLAS

TRAVERSEBENTON

STEVENS

STEARNS

POPE ISANTI

CHISAGO

BIG STONESHERBURNE

SWIFT KANDIYOHI

WRIGHT

ANOKA

MEEKERLAC QUI PARLE

WASH

INGT

ON

HENNEPIN

CHIPPEWARAMSEY

MCLEOD CARVERYELLOW MEDICINE DAKOTA

RENVILLE

SCOTTSIBLEY

REDWOOD GOODHUE

LINCOLNLYON

LE SUEUR

RICEBROWN

NICOLLET

WABASHA

BLUEEARTH

PIPESTONE MURRAY COTTONWOOD WINONAWASECA

STEELE DODGE

OLMSTEDWATONWAN

ROCK NOBLES

JACKSON

MARTIN HOUSTONFARIBAULT

FILLMORE

FREEBORN MOWER

Surface Water: Stream Flow

Previous Flow ConditionsSeptember 2016

This map is based on provisional stream gage datafrom the USGS National Water Information System

October 2016Stream Flow Conditions

* Percentile ranking based on mean daily flows for the current month averaged and ranked with all historical mean daily flows for that month. A watershed ranked at zero means that the present month flow is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the present-month flow is in the middle of the historical distribution.

# Designated major watershed gage Percentile *High Flows (>90th percentile)Above Normal Flows (75 - 90th percentile)Normal Flows (25 - 75th percentile)Below Normal Flows (10 - 25th percentile)Low Flows (<= 10th percentile)Equipment malfunction

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LAKE OF THE WOODS

KITTSONROSEAU

KOOCHICHING

MARSHALL

ST. LOUIS

BELTRAMI

POLK

PENNINGTON

COOK

LAKE

CLEARWATER

RED LAKE ITASCA

NORMAN MAHNOMEN

CASSHUBBARD

CLAYBECKER

AITKIN

WADENA CROW WING

CARLTON

OTTER TAILWILKIN

PINE

TODD MORRISON

MILLELACS

KANABECGRANT

DOUGLAS

TRAVERSEBENTON

STEVENS STEARNSPOPE

ISANTI

CHISAGO

BIG STONE SHERBURNE

SWIFT KANDIYOHI

WRIGHT

ANOKA

MEEKERLAC QUI PARLE WA

SHIN

GTON

HENNEPIN

CHIPPEWARAMSEY

MCLEOD CARVERYELLOW MEDICINE DAKOTA

RENVILLE

SCOTTSIBLEY

REDWOOD GOODHUE

LINCOLNLYON

LE SUEUR

RICEBROWN

NICOLLET

WABASHA

BLUEEARTH

PIPESTONE MURRAY COTTONWOOD WINONAWASECA

STEELE DODGE

OLMSTEDWATONWAN

ROCK NOBLES

JACKSON

MARTIN HOUSTONFARIBAULT

FILLMORE

FREEBORN MOWER

Upper Cormorant

Turtle River

Chub

North Center

Poplar

Edward

Marion

Minnetonka

Green

Lake of the Woods

West Jefferson

Mille Lacs

Upper PriorSwan

White Bear

Shetek

Indian

East Battle

Tamarack

Pokegama

Sarah

BurntsideVermilion

Minnewaska !(

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Source data from: MN DNR Waters Lake Level Minnesota Monitoring Program

October 2016Lake Level Status

Surface Water: Lake Levels

* Percentile ranking based on last reported reading for the current month compared to all historical reported levels for that month. A lake ranked at zero means that the present reported level is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the present- month reported lake level is in the middle of the historical distribution.

Previous Conditions September 2016

Percentile *!( High Water Levels (>90th percentile)!( Above Normal Water Levels (75 - 90th percentile)!( Normal Water Levels (25 - 75th percentile)!( Below Normal Water Levels (10 - 25th percentile)!( Low Water Levels (<= 10th percentile)

Level 2 Hydrologic UnitDNR Major Watershed

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AquiferWater TableBuried ArtesianBedrock

Ground Water

* Percentile ranking based on last reported reading for the current month compared to all historical reported levels for that month. A water level ranked at zero means that the present reported level is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the present- month reported water level is in the middle of the historical distribution.

Source data from: MN DNR Ground Water Level Monitoring Program

September 2016 Indicator Wells

Groundwater Level Historical RankingsOctober 2016

Water Levels: Change in Water Elevations