La Crosse reports record rainfall

08/23/2007

By The Associated Press

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Cleanup continued in flood-ravaged southwestern Wisconsin as a number of cities and towns reported having their wettest months on record.

Thunderstorms that crossed southern Wisconsin Wednesday night knocked out power and had emergency management workers worried about the condition of some dams in the southwest.

Record rainfalls were reported in La Crosse, Madison and the Janesville area, with some spots getting up to nearly 17 inches this month. La Crosse, which has been surrounded by flooding in Wisconsin and Minnesota, has had a record 12.32 inches of rain so far, according to the National Weather Service.

The record for wettest month in Wisconsin was set in September 1986, when 18.1 inches fell in Markesan in Green Lake County, said Rusty Kapela, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sullivan. The 30-year average for August rainfall in Wisconsin is 4.27 inches, said Ed Hopkins, assistant state climatologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

National Guard pumps were used today to help relieve pressure on the Hidden Valley dam in Vernon County, said Mike Goetzman, a spokesman for Wisconsin Emergency Management. The earthen dam suffered erosion earlier this week when water from weekend thunderstorms overflowed it.

Authorities have kept an eye on several Vernon County dams under pressure from the near-constant rain. All have held so far, said Meg Galloway, chief of dams for the state Department of Natural Resources.

Gov. Jim Doyle declared La Crosse, Vernon, Crawford, Richland and Sauk counties disaster areas earlier this week and said he will seek federal disaster aid to help the counties deal with flood damage estimated at nearly $40 million.