Would someone please gently nudge Mother Nature and quietly suggest that we have enough moisture in the area. Overnight rains brought rain totals for the week to over 8 inches in places throughout the area. Near Armour, South Dakota over 6 inches have fallen this week on already saturated farmland. Reports around Milltown say around 11 inches for the week. The numbers are staggering! 

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Renee Robbins of KMIT in Mitchell, South Dakota. They had 7 inches in the rain gage at their studios this morning. She's heard reports up to 11 inches of rain in the area. Many streets are impassable at this time.

Roger Beherns called and reported that Hiway 38 west of Sioux Falls is shut down in several places as well.

Thursday morning saw several schools canceling classes for the day. Parkston Mitchell, Mt. Vernon and Flandreau, South Dakota were a couple of schools that called in and 'called it off.' I received a text from Dan Soulek who farms and ranches in the Armour area and he said our 160-acre pasture is down to about 10 acres for the cattle. He said;

You can't make this *(&^ up. I'm having to feed cattle hay in the middle of September and I know I'm not the only one. Feedlots are still a mess too and the gravel roads, which had just started to shape up are nearly impassable again.

Late Tuesday night Sioux Falls dealt with an unusually late in the day, a rash of tornadoes. Three touched down in the state's largest city while most people slept. The weather has certainly been TOUGH this year.

Soulek also said, the roads into Wagner, South Dakota are shut down too. You can't get in taking 46 from the west and you can't get in from the north because Hiway 50 is shut down from the north. You have to find ways to zig-zag around to even get to town. Brady had to put off hauling a load of hogs to Sioux Falls because the gravel roads are tough again. 

We're hoping that it gets better and I'm sure it will, but a lot of people are starting to get fed up with it. The contrast from our super dry year 2012 to the super wet year 2019 is staggering.

Thank you for sharing this story with your family and friends. If they've moved away from the area, they probably will have a hard time believing all the moisture. If you have photos of flooding around your place or a story to tell, send me a quick e-mail to jdcollins@kikn.com. Oh, and I'm hoping it dries up a little bit too.  Soon!

 

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