Flash Flooding in Minnesota, April 22 to 23, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in Minnesota, April 22 to 23, 2001
Start: 2001-04-22T19:00
End: 2001-04-23T15:00
Location: Minnesota

April 22 to 23, 2001 · NWS MPX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: $6.1 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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.

Two to four inches rain fell on saturated ground. The most severe damage occured in Santiago (Sherburne County), where a dike along County Road 11 gave way and allowed water to come crashing into town. About one dozen homes and businesses were flooded and evacuations were necessary. Other damage included flooded basements in Foley (Benton County) and Milaca (Mille Lacs County). County officials reported roads closed in portions of Benton, Meeker, Redwood, Renville and Stearns Counties, with some roads washed out. Intersections were flooded in Willmar (Kandiyohi County).

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 22, 2:00 PM CST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 2:00 PM CST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
300 PM CDT SUN APR 22 2001

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN HAS MOVED INTO MOST OF THE FORECAST
AREA TODAY.  THE INITIAL SURGE OF RAIN/EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE WARM ADVECTION/ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL BE FOLLOWED
BY MORE RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFORMATION OF THE UPPER
LOW/TROUGH.  A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL BE ISSUED FOR WRN AND NRN
PORTIONS OF THE AREA BASED ON THE RAIN POTENTIAL.  THUNDERSTORMS
WITH HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE BASED ON ELEVATED STEEP
LAPSE RATES AND STRONG LOW LEVEL INFLOW...ESPECIALLY OVER SERN MN
AND W CENTRAL WI.  IT APPEARS THAT MOST OF THE AREA WILL REMAIN AS
RAIN TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH IT MAY AGAIN CHANGE TO SNOW IN W CENTRAL AS
THE UPPER TROUGH PASSES LATE TONIGHT.

ON MONDAY...SHOWERS WILL BE LIKELY WITH THE CYCLONIC FLOW AND THE
COLD UPPER TROUGH.  CLEARING WILL OCCUR FROM THE WEST LATE MONDAY
AND MONDAY NIGHT AS PATTERN CHANGES AND UPPER RIDGE AMPLIFIES.
MODELS STILL HAVE A CLIPPER LIKE SYSTEM FOR TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY
AND THEN DRY AND WARMER FOR THE REST OF THE PERIOD WITH THE UPPER
RIDGE.

.MSP...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL AND
       CENTRAL MN.
 SCOTT

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Benton

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Benton County, Countywide
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.699, -93.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Kandiyohi

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Kandiyohi County, Countywide
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.152, -95.005 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Meeker

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, Countywide
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.123, -94.527 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Mille Lacs

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Mille Lacs County, Countywide
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.938, -93.630 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Morrison

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Morrison County, Countywide
Property damage: $1.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 46.013, -94.268 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Redwood

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Redwood County, Countywide
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 44.404, -95.254 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Renville

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Renville County, Countywide
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 44.727, -94.947 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Sherburne

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Sherburne County, Countywide
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.444, -93.775 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Stearns

When: April 22, 7:00 PM CST to April 23, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Stearns County, Countywide
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.552, -94.613 (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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, April 2001

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: 5242085, 5242086, 5242087, 5242088, 5242089, 5242090, 5242091, 5242092, 5242093.