STILLWATER, Minn. — The record-setting rain has some people wondering if the weather will ever turn around this summer.
It has already caused the St. Croix River to rise to the highest its ever been in June, according to Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay.
"This river is on its own," said resident Louis Watson. "It's gonna do what it's gonna do, so it's quite something to see it this high."
The St. Croix can usually crest in April when the snow melts — not so much in the summer. And that's making it much harder for Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski to manage.
"It's completely out of the ordinary," said Kozlowski. "It's not really so much about the height, as it is the duration and longevity of this thing that really kind of hurts us."
Boulay says 17 inches of rain fell from April to June, making it the fourth wettest period ever.
"If we wanted something to break the drought, we did it in style," said Boulay. "It doesn't really flood that often on the rivers in June and into July here and it impacts different things, like the 4th of July."
Kozlowski says the city is postponing the holiday's festivities and fireworks, likely until the end of August. He says that downtown Stillwater is still open for business and the city will communicate a new date for fireworks and associated events when something more specific is decided upon.
In the meantime, more rain is expected in the coming days and the river is receding much too slowly.
"If this river only drops a couple feet in the next two weeks, and we get a three-inch rain event, we're going to have to build a 10-foot wall all up and down this park still," said Kozlowski. "We're certainly keeping our eyes on the sky."
There is some good news.
The Climate Prediction Center released an update on Tuesday that shows the second and third week of July trending much drier and warmer. But that means those dangerous, hot temperatures will persist out west and far east.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.