Flood, Wilkin
- When
- April 13, 12:00 AM CST to April 16, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Wilkin forecast zone
- Property damage
- $20 million
- Coordinates
- 46.357, -96.468 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Minnesota, April 13 to 16, 1997
A second crest on the Red River in Breckenridge occurred on April 15th. Record releases from White Rock Dam, the source of the Bois de Sioux River, helped cause the second crest.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
- $20 million
- 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.
A second crest on the Red River in Breckenridge occurred on April 15th. Record releases from White Rock Dam, the source of the Bois de Sioux River, helped cause the second crest. The previous record release of 3770 cfs, set prior to 1997, was nearly doubled, to around 7000 cfs. Hundreds of homes and businesses on the south side of Breckenridge were flooded.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 1997
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: 5591908.