Flash Flooding in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997

Name: Flash Flooding in Minnesota, July 16 to 17, 1997
Start: 1997-07-16T23:00
End: 1997-07-17T03:00
Location: Minnesota

July 16 to 17, 1997 · NWS MPX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Slow moving thunderstorms deposited heavy rainfall on already saturated ground. 0 inches 3 miles southwest of Hastings.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 MPX wrote it up.

Slow moving thunderstorms deposited heavy rainfall on already saturated ground. Some rainfall totals included 3.7 inches in Minneapolis, 3.5 inches in Richfield and 4.0 inches 3 miles southwest of Hastings. Several major roadways were flooded including Interstate 35W at Diamond Lake Road, Interstate 494 at Penn Avenue as well as highway 100 in St. Louis Park, highway 55 in Eagan and highway 52 in Inver Grove Heights. Several motorists were stranded on highway 52.

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Dakota

When: July 16, 11:00 PM CST to July 17, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Dakota County, Inver Grove Heights
Coordinates: 44.672, -93.065 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Hennepin

When: July 16, 11:30 PM CST to July 17, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Hennepin County, Minneapolis
Coordinates: 45.005, -93.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Minnesota in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, July 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: 5615247, 5615246.