Flood, Wilkin
- When
- April 5, 12:00 AM CST to April 8, 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 5 to 8, 1997
The rising Red River filled half the city of Breckenridge with water, which froze in place as the temperature dropped. Floodfighters had to work in the middle of the blizzard to try to save parts of the city.
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.
The rising Red River filled half the city of Breckenridge with water, which froze in place as the temperature dropped. Floodfighters had to work in the middle of the blizzard to try to save parts of the city. A record level was set on the Red River in Wahpeton on the 6th. A 29 year-old woman and her 3 year-old daughter died from exposure on April 8th, when the car she was driving went into a flooded creek. They managed to get out of the car, but could not reach the closest farmhouse. The woman was driving around road closed signs, trying to find a quicker way home. The governor of Minnesota declared the Red River Valley a state disaster area, which later received a Presidential disaster declaration.
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
- Blizzard in North Dakota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Blizzard in Minnesota, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Flood in North Dakota, April 5 to 8, 1997
- Flash Flood in Arkansas, April 5, 1997
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Flood in Minnesota, April 5 to 9, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, April 5, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, April 5, 1997
- Blizzard in Nebraska, April 5 to 6, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 5, 1997
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: 5591899.