RSS FeedsHydrologic Summary for May 2004 for the Area Served by the NWS Forecast Office at Sioux Falls, SD
Summary
Wet conditions returned to the region in May. After a relatively dry first half of the month, heavy rainfall occurred over nearly all areas through the last 2 weeks.
Flooding
River flooding occurred on parts of the Vermillion, Big Sioux, and Little Sioux river basins. The worst flooding was on Skunk Creek northwest of Sioux Falls, with the gage on Marion Road in Sioux Falls hitting its highest stage in 20 years. There was only minor flooding on the larger rivers. The flooding on Skunk Creek resulted from widespread rainfall of 3 to 5 inches on the evening of May 29th, which had followed 1 to 4 inches of rain that had fallen between the 20th and 25th. Flash flooding, urban and small stream flooding resulted in these heavy rains from Yankton and Turner counties, through Lincoln and Minnehaha counties, and then up into Pipestone, Murray, and Lyon counties in Minnesota. Then the larger streams and rivers saw minor flooding through the end of May and into early June. Please see the table at the end of this report for more details on the river flooding in May.
General Hydrologic Information
Temperatures in May were near normal to slightly above normal across the region. Average temperatures for the month ranged from around 0.1 degrees below normal to 2 degrees above the 30 year average.Precipitation for the month was above normal for most areas. Monthly totals ranged from 3 inches to over 8 inches, which is as much as 4 to 5 inches above normal. On average, precipitation totals were generally 1.9 to 2.7 inches above normal for all areas.
Soil Moisture conditions at the end of May were near normal for most of the region. Deficits of around 1 inch were still being reported in the extreme western areas along the Missouri River. The National Drought Monitor indicated moderate to severe drought conditions persisting in the extreme western areas, with near normal conditions across the rest of the region.
Mike Gillispie
June 11, 2004
June 11, 2004
RIVER/STATION FLOOD ABOVE FLOOD STAGE CREST
STAGE FROM-TO STAGE DATE
LITTLE SIOUX RIVER
SPWI4 10.0 5/24-5/25 10.20 5/24
LNNI4 18.0 5/24-5/28 18.22 5/25
SKUNK CREEK
HTFS2 10.0 5/30-5/30 11.39 5/30
WCCS2 9.0 5/30-5/30 12.19 5/30
SIFS2 11.5 5/30-5/30 12.69 5/30
PIPESTONE CREEK
PIPM5 16.0 5/30-5/30 17.97 5/30
BIG SIOUX RIVER
SXFS2 16.0 5/30-5/31 16.55 5/31
HAWI4 15.0 5/31-cont 17.50 6/2
VERMILLION RIVER
DVSS2 11.0 5/31-cont 13.50 5/31