MARSHALL — The year was full of big weather events like a March snowstorm, rain and flood warnings in June, and a record-setting dry September.

But in the end, 2024 was “right around average” for total precipitation, said meteorologist Matthew Meyers at the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls.

Marshall received 28.12 inches of precipitation in 2024, compared to an average of 28.9 inches, Meyers said. Overall, Marshall also got less snow than average last year, with a total of 24.2 inches.

The city’s highest snow depth for 2024, 8 inches, was reported on March 26 and 27, Meyers said. That was about when a winter storm system dumped several inches of snow on southwest Minnesota. At the time, local observations showed a three-day storm total of about 8.5 inches of snow, while some reports from the Balaton area showed close to 10 inches.

There was more wet weather in store for the region at the start of the summer. Marshall received a total of 6.78 inches of rain in June 2024. While that amount of rain wasn’t record-breaking compared to the flood of June 1957, it was enough to prompt flood warnings along the Redwood River in Lyon County.

By fall, conditions had dried out again. In the month of September, Marshall received only 0.15 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 0.18 inches in 1974.

While the area had a dry autumn, Marshall wasn’t setting any new records for heat this year, Meyers said. The highest recorded temperature for 2024 was 94 degrees on Aug. 4, Meyers said. In comparison, the highest temperature in 2023 was 103 degrees.

The lowest temperature of 2024, at 16 degrees below zero, was reported on Jan 14.

As we head into 2025, it’s not certain if southwest Minnesota will see a lot of snow in the first part of the year. According to the NWS Climate Prediction Center, much of Minnesota and the Dakotas have equal chances of either above or below-normal amounts of precipitation January through March. However, things could potentially be chilly this winter.

Outlooks for the next three months show western Minnesota leaning toward lower-than-normal temperatures.