Alert archive / Minnesota / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Twin Cities, MN

June 9, 2004Blue Earth County, Nicollet County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this flash flood warning at Jun 9, 2004, 1:57 AM CDT for Blue Earth County, Nicollet County, Minnesota. It was in force for 5 hr. 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 9, 2004, 1:57 AM CDT (06:57 UTC)
Expired: Jun 9, 2004, 7:00 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Blue Earth County, MN, Nicollet County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:57 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 76 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1194 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS53 KMPX 090658
FFWMPX
MNC013-103-091200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
157 AM CDT WED JUN 9 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  BLUE EARTH COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF MANKATO
  NICOLLET COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 700 AM CDT

* AT 157 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN 
  OVER NORTHERN BLUE EARTH COUNTY INTO MOST OF NICOLLET COUNTY. THE  
  STORMS EXTENDED BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST TOWARD ST. JAMES AND         
  SPRINGFIELD...AND WILL MOVE SLOWLY NORTHEAST OVER THE AREA.        
  RAINFALL RATES IN THE HEAVIEST STORMS COULD APPROACH AN INCH AND   
  HALF TO TWO INCHES PER HOUR. NEARLY TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY 
  FALLEN IN MANKATO...AND THE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS COULD EASILY 
  DROP ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN THROUGH 7 AM. THIS WILL         
  RESULT IN WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES...WITH LOCAL 
  AMOUNTS TO 4 INCHES. THESE RAINFALL RATES AND AMOUNTS COULD        
  CAUSE MUDSLIDES ON STATE HIGHWAY 169 NORTH OF MANKATO...WITH       
  THE POTENTIAL FOR WATER RUNNING OVER ROADWAYS IN THE               
  HILLY TERRAIN...AS WELL AS SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS OVERRUNNING    
  THEIR BANKS.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  NORSELAND...KLOSSNER...CREDIT RIVER...ST CLAIR...SKYLINE...NORTH
  MANKATO...NICOLLET...MADISON LAKE...LAKE CRYSTAL...EAGLE LAKE AND
  COURTLAND.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE 
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS 
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

LAT...LON 4445 9400 4424 9404 4424 9378 4407 9378
      4407 9436 4426 9437 4441 9456

$$

BINAU/NAISTAT

2 follow-up statements

000 
WGUS73 KMPX 090818
FFSMPX
MNC013-103-091200-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
315 AM CDT WED JUN 9 2004

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 7 AM FOR BLUE EARTH AND 
NICOLLET COUNTIES...

...HIGHWAY 169 SOUTHBOUND CLOSED DUE TO MUDSLIDES FROM ST. PETER TO 
MANKATO...

TORRENTIAL RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS 
SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...FROM ST. JAMES TO MANKATO. THESE STORMS 
WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST...AND WILL CONTINUE TO EXACERBATE 
FLOODING PROBLEMS ALREADY BEING SEEN IN NICOLLET AND BLUE EARTH 
COUNTIES.

AT 3 AM...HIGHWAY 169 SOUTHBOUND WAS CLOSED DUE TO MUDSLIDES CAUSED 
BY THE EXCESSIVE RAINS. IN MANKATO...4.69 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN 
SINCE TUESDAY EVENING. ANOTHER INCH...PERHAPS TWO IN LOCALIZED 
AREAS...IS POSSIBLE BEFORE RAINS TAPER OFF TOWARD SUNRISE. THIS WILL 
CAUSE RAPID RISES ON AREA RIVERS AND STREAMS...WITH MANY LOW LYING 
AREAS BECOMING INUNDATED WITH WATER. 

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE 
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS 
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

TO REPORT FLOODING...HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY 
YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN THE 
TWIN CITIES.

LAT...LON 4445 9400 4424 9404 4424 9378 4407 9378
      4407 9436 4426 9437 4441 9456

$$

BINAU/NAISTAT

000 
WGUS73 KMPX 090949
FFSMPX
MNC013-103-091200-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
450 AM CDT WED JUN 9 2004

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 7 AM FOR BLUE EARTH AND 
NICOLLET COUNTIES...

...HIGHWAY 169 SOUTHBOUND CLOSED DUE TO MUDSLIDES FROM ST. PETER TO 
MANKATO...

AT 445 AM...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED MODERATE TO 
HEAVY RAIN...WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING TORRENTIAL 
RAINS...CONTINUING TO MOVE ACROSS BLUE EARTH AND NICOLLET COUNTIES. 
MORE HEAVY RAIN WAS LINING UP TO THE WEST...TAKING AIM ON NICOLLET 
COUNTY...AND NORTHERN BLUE EARTH COUNTY. THE RAIN SHOULD TAPER OFF 
OVER SOUTHERN BLUE EARTH COUNTY BY 6 AM. 

A MNDOT RAIN GAUGE ALONG HIGHWAY 169 IS REPORTING 7.3 INCHES OF RAIN 
HAS ALREADY FALLEN...WITH THE MANKATO AIRPORT REPORTING 5.5 INCHES. 
A GAUGE SOUTHWEST OF LAKE CRYSTAL IN WESTERN BLUE EARTH COUNTY WAS 
ALSO REPORTING AMOUNTS OF 5.4 INCHES.

SEVERAL OTHER ROADS IN NICOLLET AND BLUE EARTH COUNTIES WERE 
EXPERIENCING DEBRIS FROM MUDSLIDES AND HIGH WATER THREATENING ROAD 
CLOSURE. 

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE 
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS 
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

TO REPORT FLOODING...HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY 
YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN THE 
TWIN CITIES.

LAT...LON 4445 9400 4424 9404 4424 9378 4407 9378
      4407 9436 4426 9437 4441 9456

$$

BINAU

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 8, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Blue Earth, Brown	60 min
Jun 8, 8:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Faribault, Freeborn	62 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Minnesota, 2004 Every flash flood warning in 2004

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.