I was just looking at the big weather map London Yank linked to in the current recommended diary 5 Biggest Atlantic Storms of the 21st century and noticed a storm system over where I used to live in Winona, MN, about 120 miles south of the Twin Cities along the Mississippi River. If you have a high speed connection, check this out here.
So coincidentally a few minutes ago I got a call from my sister in Minneapolis to alert me about flooding in Winona County. They received 8 inches of rain overnight, and 4 are confirmed dead. There are lots of streams and rivers there, and 8 inches is a highly unusual amount for that area at one time.
The power has been turned off to the area so I'm not able to contact anyone yet. WCCO TV in Mpls is running live coverage. The local paper, the Winona Daily News has some additional coverage. The town of Stockton was hardest hit. The entire county only has about 50,000 people so it's not high density, and not likely to receive much national coverage but still dramatic for those who live there, and more rain is forecast for today and tomorrow.
This has been another summer of unusual weather. Up in Minnesota it's been largely drought conditions until now, with wildfires in the Boundary Waters this past spring, Lake Superior at a record low level and here in Dallas it's been wet and humid instead of hot and dry. And now the hurricane season is just getting started with gnormous hurricane Dean on the way. But hey folks, these are just normal weather patterns. Just ask the average conservative.