Heavy Rainstorms Drench Western Wisconsin

Parts of western Wisconsin were briefly underwater Monday as torrential rains closed highways and flooded roads.

The National Weather Service said Pierce and St. Croix counties bore the brunt of Monday’s rainstorms. The city of River Falls topped the list with 7.3 inches of rain since Monday morning, while Hudson was close behind with just over 7 inches. Polk, Chippewa and Dunn counties all saw more than 3 inches of precipitation.

Meteorologist Tony Zaleski said a combination of high moisture and smoke from Canadian wildfires created the deluge.

“It was a cold front that came through and you had slow-moving thunderstorms that were basically running parallel to it. Also, the soot in the air from the fires didn’t help either,” Zaleski said.

The heavy rains led to flash flooding that closed a county highway in Dunn County and also covered numerous county roads.

Zaleski said that despite the flooding, western Wisconsin rivers are not overflowing.

“A lot of the gauges across the area spiked,” he said. “It looked like a rocket on the gauges, but they were so far below any type of flood stage anyway that none of the gauges are indicating any flooding conditions at all.”

Zaleski says the rain has moved on and that the next few days should be sunny and dry.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with more information on the impact of flash flooding in western Wisconsin.