The summer of 2012 was rather quiet for severe weather, especially in July. There was very little severe weather activity in the state following a few tornadoes in the Spring, including near Elysian, Kiester and Belle Plaine. Much of the state stayed dry throughout the Summer as well, other than the historic flooding in Duluth and a few other areas in June. Climatologist Pete Boulay says that most of the rest of the state stayed dry, with southern Minnesota precipitation levels 5-8 inches below normal by the end of August and northwest Minnesota at 1-3 inches below normal. He says that the New Ulm area had one of it’s driest summers ever on record also, with just-under 5 inches of precipitation being recorded since June 1st.