Alert archive / Minnesota / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Duluth, MN

June 22, 2002Saint Louis County, Minnesota

NWS Duluth, MN issued this flash flood warning at Jun 22, 2002, 10:23 PM CDT for Saint Louis County, Minnesota. It was in force for 97 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 22, 2002, 10:23 PM CDT (03:23 UTC)
Expired
Jun 23, 2002, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
97 min
Issued by
NWS Duluth, MN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Saint Louis County, MN

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 187 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2002-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2002-06-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS53 KDLH 230323 CCA
FFWDLH
MNC137-230500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED EXPIRATION TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
930 PM CDT SAT JUN 22 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWEST ST. LOUIS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA
  SOUTHEAST ST. LOUIS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT

* AT 925 PM CDT...DULUTH DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED ANOTHER LARGE
  AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALL DROPPING SOUTHWARD
  INTO SOUTHERN SAINT LOUIS COUNTY. 

* THUNDERSTORMS ARE CONTINUOUSLY REDEVELOPING OVER THE WARNED AREA...
  RESULTING IN EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. NEW RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE 
  FLOODWOOD AND DULUTH AREAS FROM 930 PM THROUGH MIDNIGHT WILL 
  BE AS MUCH AS 2 OR 3 INCHES. 

DITCHES AND LOW LYING AREAS ARE ALREADY RECEIVING MINOR FLOODING 
FROM EARLIER RAINFALL TONIGHT. ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL RESULT 
IN POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS FLOODING FOR SOUTHERN SAINT LOUIS COUNTY. 
THE BIG DANGER IS THAT IT IS COMING AT NIGHT...WHEN IT IS HARDER TO 
RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. 

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER 
COVERS THE ROADWAYS. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE 
ABANDONED. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF YOU ARE IN A LOW LYING AREA. 

.END

LAT...LON 4718 9186 4678 9187 4679 9299 4718 9302

DAP

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jun 22, 3:26 PM CDT, 6 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 3:26 PM CDT, 6 hours 57 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
326 PM CDT SAT JUN 22 2002

FORECAST CONCERN WILL BE ON SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT.

CURRENT ZONE PACKAGE LOOKS REAL GOOD AND NO MAJOR CHANGES WILL BE
MADE. ALL VOLITILE INDICIES ARE PEAKING THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SHOULD
CONTINUE THROUGH A GOOD PORTION OF TONIGHT. HELICITIES FROM THE SFC
UP ARE FAIRLY HIGH WITH PW RANGING IN THE 1.5 RANGE AND WBZ AROUND
10K WE SHOULD SEE ALL THE ABOVE WITH THESE TS...DAMAGING WINDS...
CONTINUOUS LIGHTNING...LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...FLOODING...AND A TORNADO
WOULDNT BE OUT OF THE QUESTION.

.DLH...NONE.

T.ERICKSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Duluth, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 22, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis61 min
Jun 22, 7:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDLHItasca, Saint Louis4 hr
Jun 22, 9:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis57 min
Jun 22, 9:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDLHSaint Louis2 hr
Jun 22, 10:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Minnesota, 2002Every flash flood warning in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.