Hail, Polk
- When
- May 16, 10:02 PM CST
- Where
- Polk County, Fertile
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 47.530, -96.280
Hail in Minnesota, May 16, 1996
The regions first summer-like weather resulted in an outbreak of severe weather over a two day period. With the surge of warm and humid air during the evening of May 16th hail and wind damage occurred across portions of North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
The regions first summer-like weather resulted in an outbreak of severe weather over a two day period. With the surge of warm and humid air during the evening of May 16th hail and wind damage occurred across portions of North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota. Flash flooding also occurred in portions of the Red River Valley where soils were saturated from recent spring flooding. Below average temperatures in the spring resulted in a detection of frost, 1 to 2 feet below ground level. Torrential rains, up to 6 inches in some areas, produced flash floods both on the night of May 16th and 17th.
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:02 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flooding in Montana, May 16, 1996
- Flood in California, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16 to 17, 1996
- Flood in Utah, May 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Dakota, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, May 16, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 16, 1996
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5577478.