Sioux Falls logs wettest two-day span on record, National Weather Service reports

Gabriela Velasquez and Dominik Dausch, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read
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The Big Sioux River is seen rushing Friday, June 21, 2024, through downtown Sioux Falls at high levels after torrential rain overnight.
The Big Sioux River is seen rushing Friday, June 21, 2024, through downtown Sioux Falls at high levels after torrential rain overnight.
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The rain, rain and more rain that southeastern South Dakota has faced since June 20 is officially historic.

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls reported on Monday that the two-day period between June 20 and June 21 is the wettest on record in Mitchell and Sioux Falls since records began being kept in 1893.

Between Thursday and Friday, Mitchell received 7.70 inches of rain and Sioux Falls recorded 6.49 inches.

June is already shaping up to be one of the wettest Junes on record for the pair of cities. Mitchell hasn't seen this much rain in the month since it logged 11.11 inches of rain throughout June of 1984, while Sioux Falls' last June seeing so much precipitation was in 2014, when it recorded 13.70 inches of rain.

The Big Sioux River is seen rushing Friday, June 21, 2024, through downtown Sioux Falls at high levels after torrential rain overnight.
The Big Sioux River is seen rushing Friday, June 21, 2024, through downtown Sioux Falls at high levels after torrential rain overnight.

Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken signed an executive order to issue an emergency declaration in the city Saturday, alongside South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's statewide declaration the same day. Over the weekend, the Sioux Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant ran out of storage for excess wastewater in the system. As a result, plant operators were forced to discharge untreated wastewater into the Big Sioux River at 7:15 a.m. Saturday.

This decision was a "last resort," Marc Cotter, the city's director of public works, said.

One person has died so far as a result of the state's regional flooding, Noem said during a news conference on Sunday. An elderly man died following a UTV crash near Lake Alvin, 5 miles east of Harrisburg.

Northern Sioux City took the brunt of flooding on Sunday night. Officials had to evacuate residents on North Shore Drive from Exit 4 to the Dakota Valley High School. Swift water rescue teams performed several rescues and evacuations. Multiple water rescues have also been conducted in Sioux Falls since the flooding began.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: How historic are the rainfall totals in Sioux Falls?