Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
IRONWOOD — Monsoon season produced another weather record for Ironwood as recorded Wednesday at the National Weather Service site off Cloverland Drive.
The employees at the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Treatment Plant measured 1.94 inches of rain for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m.
Prior to the intense lightning storm, the NWS had issued flash flood warnings for the area.
It rained so hard that at 4:30 a.m. the treatment plant began discharging wastewater into the Montreal River that didn’t receive full advanced treatment. That usually only occurs int the spring of the year during snowmelt conditions.
The notice from the Gogebic-Iron Wastewater Authority noted all that rain fell on saturated grounds.
The bypass was necessary to prevent sewer back-ups and protect the advanced treatment system, according to the authority news release.
The authority said homeowners can help during heavy rainfall events by making sure that sump pumps and roof drains do not discharge into the sanitary system.
The latest overnight deluge brought the June rain total to 5.04 inches at the halfway point of the month. The long-term average for June 15 is 1.67 inches.
Last Friday, about an inch of rain fell in 15 minutes in downtown Ironwood.
Weather records for Ironwood, as compiled by the Marquette NWS office, date to 1901.
Total precipitation for 2016 stands at 21.03 inches, about a half inch short of the all-time June 15 record of 21.58 inches, set in 2013.
Warmer air is expected to arrive by the weekend, with sunshine and temperatures in the 80s. There’s a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday, however.