Year End Summary for 2021
YEAR END SUMMARY STATION NAME: Turtle Creek at Austin, 43rd St STATION NUMBER: H48027001 YEAR: 2021 PREPARED BY: Fred Bowen; fred.bowen@state.mn.us CLIMATE SUMMARY: Division 9, 2021: After a generally mild winter with normal to below-normal snowfall, warm and dry conditions persisted during the May-through-October liquid precipitation season, leading to some drought designations. Precipitation from May through October averaged about 85% of normal, or just under 4 inches below normal. May through July was dry, with an average of just under 11 inches of rain falling over the 3-month period (normal would have been just under 14.5 inches). June had bouts of extreme heat, and May through October averaged just 2.5 degrees F above normal. Normal to above-normal precipitation during late summer and autumn helped drought conditions improve, and areas near the Mississippi River spent little time in official drought designations. Heavy rain fell on August 26-27, with 3-5 inches in many areas. Mean temperatures fell below freezing in early November, with accumulating snows most areas by early December. STATION OPERATION SUMMARY: This station operates year-round, but precipitation is only monitored during the liquid precipitation season. Is this site monitored year round? NO Open water dates - estimated Ice out and Ice in: Ice out 3/10/2021, Ice in 11/8/2021 Open water sites ONLY. Period of data record (if different from ice out/ice in dates): 3/5/2021 - 11/1/2021 Summary of equipment - related factors that impacted data collection: Equipment operated well throughout the year, no issues. DISCHARGE SUMMARY: Number of flow measurements for monitoring season: 6 Was the full range of flows measured for the season? NO, range of calculated flows 9.23 - 781 cfs. Range of measured flows 23.4 - 81 cfs. Was a new rating developed? NO General summary of control changes/shifts needed: Early March did not need a shift. Event based scour shifts were needed for the April and June measurements. A deposition shift was needed around the July measurement. No shifts needed for September or October after late August event. Quality of computed daily discharges: Mostly fair due to rating quality, some good and fair qualities also PRECIPITATION DATA OVERVIEW: Was precipitation data collected at this site? YES Climatological liquid precipitation period: 5/1/2021 - 11/1/2021 Was there a complete and acceptable precipitation record for this period? YES