Over 1 1/2″ of Rain in St. Cloud Wednesday, More Storms Thursday

UNDATED -- Heavy rain moved through the St. Cloud area Wednesday night.

The National Weather Service says we officially had 1.61 inches of rain.  We've had 3.80 inches of rain for the month of May so far,  which is more than 2 1/2 inches above normal for the month so far.  We've had 8.87 inches of rain for the spring months of March, April and May so far, which is about 3 1/2 inches above normal.

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The U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday says Minnesota now has just four percent of the state still listed as abnormally dry.  That's down from six percent last Thursday.  While the update comes out on Thursday, the data is valid through Tuesday, so Wednesday's heavy rain has not been factored in yet.

Widespread thunderstorms will fire on a cold front over the eastern Dakotas Thursday afternoon and track east through the evening.

Very large hail to baseball size, widespread damaging winds with hurricane force gusts, and some tornadoes are all possible. Storms reach far western Minnesota late Thursday afternoon, then track east to Wisconsin by late evening.

All hazard types are possible, with strong winds expected to be the biggest concern right now.